


Dangangoonga: The Fanfiction

by ShuckleChuckle, tescobrandcereal



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Fanganronpa - Fandom
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Multi, POV First Person, like way too seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28623090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShuckleChuckle/pseuds/ShuckleChuckle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tescobrandcereal/pseuds/tescobrandcereal
Summary: What happens when a bunch of students are kidnapped and sealed in a weird building, forced to partake in a killing game? And what happens when they realize this killing game *might* be low budget? A lot happens, actually, and you're here to witness it! Murder, execution, betrayal, shock, tension, all of the above.-Possible spoilers for DRTHH and SDR2 ahead.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> context; a joke fangan made by me and my friends that we took way too seriously and finally decided to post it. 
> 
> i dont expect anyone to read this bc my writing isn't that good, but hey, who cares? im doing this for fun anyways.
> 
> also general warning for profanity, possible sexual humor, canon typical violence and occasional 4th wall breaking, but not to v3's extent... i think.
> 
> (i dont own danganronpa or anything, this is just a stupid story)

It had been a few minutes since I had left the train. The cold morning air of the summer made me relaxed, quickly overlapping with the feeling of exhaustion and worry I had endured from earlier. Accompanied with the decent warmth and the early morning sky, I felt relaxed, even if it was just for a moment. I stared down at the pavement as I walked, my hand gripping my luggage tightly.

I checked the time on my watch. The time was 6:47. A bit on the early side, but works out for me.

Even when I was walking, though not paying too much attention to what was in front of me, all I could think about was the fact I was on my way to Hope’s Peak Academy. The Hope’s Peak Academy. 

I remember my parents talking to me endlessly about it. How I was incredibly lucky and privileged to get into a school like Hope’s Peak. They talked about how I was, infact, the very best at what I do. The Ultimate Trivia King. 

In a way, it’s sort of weird. When you graduate this school, you’re pretty much set for life. And it’s reserved for high school students who are the very best at what they do. 

I hummed softly.

Admittedly, I didn’t really read much about the other people attending. I glossed over a few, while some stuck out to me. Others had no information on them whatsoever. But I figured it would work out in my favor.

There were a few people I read about. There was the “Ultimate Mangaka”. Her name’s been thrown around frequently, but I mostly see people talk about how surprised they are that a high schooler like her managed to become such a popular manga author. Her works, though having a somewhat similar pattern, are loved by many, and I recall one of her series having several volumes and quite the active fanbase. Personally, it’s not my cup of tea, as I prefer the mecha genre, but I see the appeal.

They also mentioned the “Ultimate Cosmetologist.” I noticed a lot of people bring up how he’s quite the aggressive fellow and that a lot of people don’t really like that about him, but respect the work he does and his dedication to it. It seems he is most popular among women, though. 

And I couldn’t forget the Ultimate Fursuiter. Apparently, they’ve received some ridicule from people, commonly on the more widely used forums. However, it seems they’re most popular among forums that enjoy cosplaying and everything of the sort. I was quite foreign to the topic of “furries”, as they call it, so reading about them and the praise they have received from the furry community was interesting. 

I was super deep in thought and didn’t realize that I completely blurred out the world surrounding me. I came to my senses and realized that I probably needed to focus on… well, getting to the actual high school itself. I checked the time once more. 

7:00.

Sighing, I hoped that my destination was at least a minute or so away. Last thing I’d need today was to arrive late. But, I looked around and came to a sudden and worrying realization. I had no clue where I was. 

Perhaps I had gotten lost on the way? While I was spacing out? But how could I have made such a mistake? Panic washed over me quickly.

Panicking is the least of your worries, Hikari. You should be more concerned about how you’re lost!

Shaking my head, my fingers tightened hard around the handle of my suitcase, to the point my knuckles turned white. A part of me knew it wasn't that big a deal, and that I could get back on track and make it to the Hope’s Peak building soon enough. But that reasonable thought was clouded by my worries. It happens so much. Too much. 

I hadn’t even noticed that tears started to well in my eyes. Lifting my hand to wipe them out, my face heated up in embarrassment. Tears just kept forming and I had no control over it; why do I always feel like this? 

7:03

It’s been that long already… and I haven’t moved whatsoever. Or rather I haven’t made a proper attempt to move. 

But, I can’t just stand around like this. That won’t get me anywhere. I stopped crying and breathed in the cold air, then let out an exhale. Getting lost isn’t that bad, I can manage. It’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything. With that in mind, I turned around to leave and get back on track, but as I turned, a figure swung something, causing something to slam hard and swiftly right into the side of my head. 

The hit was so sudden and fast that I had no time to react, instantly colliding with the cold and hard pavement, my hand letting go of my luggage. A loud ringing echoed in my head and ears and I felt dizzy. I made an attempt to process the fact I had just been hit out of nowhere and with my clouded vision could make out a pair of legs approaching me. It didn’t last for long, as my sight went white and I lost consciousness. 

That’s how it all started.


	2. Prologue: The Brologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a prologue alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder that not all these characters were made by me! all my friends made their own characters, but im unsure when to specify this. ig they'll let me know when they wake up

I wasn’t sure how long it had been. I woke up and was greeted to the uncomfortable feeling of lying on a stone cold floor, accompanied with my headache that was slowly but surely fading away. I stood up and immediately felt a pounding aching in my head. I was definitely hit hard.

What I quickly noticed was that I was no longer outside. I looked up and saw a light, a weak one, that slightly lit up the dim and small space I had awoken in. The room felt stuffy and humid, making breathing difficult, especially considering the lack of vents. 

“Where… Am I?” I muttered to myself as I looked from top to bottom. From what I could make it out to be, the room was some kind of supply closet.

_Explains the cleaning supplies. Though the lack of air flow is odd._

Behind me was a door, with a mop and bucket lying in front of it. The whole room was messy, unorganized and dusty; which was ironic to me. It was hard to try and process what was going on, since I had difficulties breathing and it was worsening my headache. I moved all the junk that lay front of the door and twisted the doorknob, barging out and inhaling deeply.

However, I ended up becoming more confused. 

A school corridor? 

The lights were dimly lit, a lá the closet I just left, giving the atmosphere an eerie vibe to it. That mixed in with the emptiness I felt brought back the worry from earlier, but more so for a different reason. I studied the corridor I had just entered, and in front me, lying right by the wall, there was a folded piece of ruled paper on the floor.

“Whoever put that there must have expected me to leave the closet…” I thought. 

With that in mind, I walked over to pick up the note and unfold it. The note contained writing that was done in crayon, already a bit of a turn off considering the creepy atmosphere I had adjusted to, but I shrugged it off and read it;

“Welcome, new kid! The next semester is about to start! Meeting time will probably start soon by the time you’re reading this, so scurry on over to the main hall!”

And attached to those words was a smiley face. It had no actual directions, none of that stuff. It was quite empty for a note. I had several questions, but I knew none of them would be answered just by standing here.

_You’ll be fine, Hikari. Just go to the main hall, you’ll get an explanation once you get there._

Well, that’s what I want to believe. But that note obviously hints to there being other people here, or there’s at least _one_ other person here, which gives me a bit of hope. I refolded the note and put it inside my pocket. My lack of directions was getting to me, but I had no choice but to go with my gut, so I turned to the right and walked forward.

As I walked, I started to space out again, remembering that I was in fact knocked out just a while ago and woke up in an unfamiliar place. I wasn’t thinking of it much just a few minutes ago, but admittedly, the whole experience is quite unnerving. And if my thought of other people being here too is correct, that makes this situation a whole lot worse. 

_Is this a kidnapping? And why was I kidnapped of all people?_

I continued to walk and made a turn to the left. There were a few doors on the side and a large door all the way at the end of the hallway. I turned to where the other door would be and tried to open it, but it seemed it was locked. 

_Think I’ll check those out later. I should probably go over to that door at the end of the hallway._

So with that in mind, I waltzed over to the large door and placed my hand on it. I shut my eyes for a brief moment and prayed I wouldn't be alone in this building, and hopefully this isn’t some kind of trap that’ll kill me instantly. I opened them, then held my breath and pushed the doors open. 

I entered the main hall, and to my surprise (and relief), it seemed there were several others standing there waiting. Not for me, but… for someone. I presume.

“WHAT ARE THOOOOOSE?!” 

Among the crowd of high schoolers, I was immediately drawn to a guy who looked like the most generic internet rapper pointing at another person’s shoes. The shoes in question were high heels made of denim.“W-Wait, there are other people here?” I said meekly.

“Yeah. And we’re all new as well.” An unfamiliar voice said. I was unable to match it to any of the people. 

“So, you’re the 16th person? Dang, I’m gonna assume you’re the last one to arrive.” Another voice said.

My eyes scanned through the room and I studied each person as best as I could. All of them were very unique in style and appearance. I didn’t recognize many of them, with the exception of a handful, who were ‘Ultimate Students’ I read about online. With the rest, though, I was unable to tell who was a legitimate Ultimate Student and who wasn’t. 

“Um. Hey everyone, I’m Hikari Kujo. I’m sorry that I took so long, I got hit in the head before I came he-”

“Yeah, no kidding, we all were.” A person with pigtails said to me. They had their hand pressed against their forehead, like they felt pain there… something like that.

“You too? Knew it wasn’t like… some weird coincidence.” The guy who had just yelled a minute ago said. He seemed to be wearing grillz that had a light red tint. 

“W-We all seem to have the same experience.” A short sickly green person murmured. His voice made it seem like he had a permanent stuffy nose. 

“Do any of you guys know what’s happening?” I asked. Several in the group shook their heads or looked at one another confusedly. Yep, sounds about right. 

“Well, since we’re all confused, maybe the best thing we can do is go around and introduce ourselves?” Someone chimed in.

All of us collectively agreed with their statement.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever gets us outta here quick, I guess. “ A dark skinned muscular girl said, rubbing her temples. 

So, we all agreed that we would get to know a little bit about each other. I decide to walk to the closest person. They wore their hair in pigtails, black with the bangs being a neon green. They wore a school girl outfit and black platformers, making them out to seem a bit taller than they actually are. 

“H-Hi, I’m Hikari Kujo. I’m the Ultimate Trivia King.”

They looked up at me and narrowed their eyes. “Did you also get some made up talent?”

I blushed, mostly out of offense, but also because I didn’t expect a response like that right off the bat.

“N-No! It’s a legitimate talent. I’m r-really good at trivia games, and my memory is incredible!” 

They shrugged and nodded. “Anyways. I’m Iori Anami. Ultimate Femboy.” 

“Femboy?”

Iori scoffed. “Yeah. That’s my talent.”

“Is it a real talent?” I asked.

“Hell if I know. Take it or leave it.” 

I was tempted to ask how the hell that could work, but I felt a negative aura radiating from his presence. Something about him just wasn’t right. 

“Question; how long are you gonna keep standing there??” He yelled, clearly frustrated. I squeaked in response. 

_This guy seems fun._

“Ah- I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!!” I didn’t notice that tears were forming in my eyes already. Iori gave me one last glare, before walking off, the sound of his steps filling the room. 

_That wasn’t a good start._

I thought, wiping the tears out of my eyes. Thankfully, that interaction was short and to the point, so I wouldn’t have to embarrass myself in front of that person for any longer. But I realized I have 15 more people to talk to. Gods, this is gonna take a while. 

“Hey, you good?” 

I tilted my head up slightly and in front of me stood a new person, who seemed much friendlier than Iori. He had his hair shaved on the left, while the right side had hair reaching his shoulder. It was black and slowly faded into a purple color. It reminded me of this one Western musician. Couldn’t remember his name, though. But I think it ended with ‘Illex’” 

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay.” I mumbled.

He smiled. “Neat! Oh, I need to introduce myself. Name’s Sonny Ozawa! I’m the Ultimate EDM Producer. Though, nowadays I rave more often than make music.” 

Ah, so Sonny was his name. He seemed a lot nicer and calmer than the last guy. Seems like the type of dude you could just play party games with.

_Wait, his name’s Sonny… That also feels familiar…_

“I’m Hikari Kujo. The Ultimate Trivia King. What kind of music do you like to make?”

He grinned. “Oh, I like to make progressive house, glitchstep, and dubstep. I’m more known for my dubstep, though.”

_And he makes dubstep? Okay, this is going too far._

“Yeah. I just have really good memory and brain power, and I’m really good at trivia shows. That’s it, really.” I explained. 

“Nice! You seem really neat. I’m trying to get to know everyone as quickly as possible, so I hope we get to talk more later on.” 

And with that, he gave me a wave and walked away. I stared at his jean high heels and he walked. Interesting fashion choice. 

I looked at the crowd of people, and my eyes widened as I saw a robot. Yeah, a literal robot. How I didn’t notice that was beyond me, but nevertheless, I went over to introduce myself to her.

_Wait a minute. She kind of looks like..._

“Junko Enoshima?” I said. She looked at me and grinned wide. 

“That’s me! Flattered you know my name! The Ultimate Fashionista!” Junko replied. 

“Well, you are pretty popular. Or… were? I mean, you’re like… a robot now. What’s up with that?” 

Still grinning, she let out a ‘throaty’ laugh and put her hands on her hips. “Master built this body for me, of course!” Suddenly, her pupils turned to hearts and she let out a sigh. “Oh… he’s so dreamy. There’s nothing I adore more than master himself!”

What?! Did some guy seriously turn Junko Enoshima into a robot girl and make her fall in love with him? I mean, respect the hustle and all, but man, how low can you go. 

“R-Right… Well, I’m Hikari Kujo, the Ultimate Trivia King.”

She nodded and smirked. “Uh huh. Nice to meet you, Hikari!” 

There was a moment of silence between us, only accompanied by the distant sound of small talk and chatter in the background, until I finally decided to pop the question…

“So, why _are_ you a robot now?” 

Junko continued to smile and just shrugged at my question. “I can’t really answer that, y’know? Private stuff between me and master” She let out a giggle then grinned cheerfully.

“Y-Yeah. Okay, see you around, then?” 

“Yup! See you around, protag!” She waved then walked away, swaying her hips a little.

_Whoever built and programmed her is a little bit of a weirdo._

“That chick’s real hot for a lump of metal, huh.” 

I looked over and some guy with tied back red dreads and clout goggles was staring at the robot, who was now chatting away to Sonny from earlier.

“Uh, yeah. I think the person who built her had that in mind.” I reply. He nods and smiles wide, revealing his red grillz. 

“Yeah! Coooool…” 

What’s up with this guy? 

“Anyways, I’m uh. I’m Noel. I’m a foreigner and they call me the Ultimate Soundcloud Rapper.” He was slurring his words. Not sure if it was a speech impediment, if he was tired off his mind, both or something else. At this point, anything is plausible. 

“Hikari Kujo. Ultimate Trivia King.” 

“Ultimate what now?” He laughed. “Couldn't you have been the Ultimate Lucky Student or something? Seems more suited for a guy like you.” After saying that, he grabbed a juul from his back pocket and took a drag from it, puffing the ‘smoke’ like he was trying to make a shape out of it. He failed to do so. 

Honestly, I didn’t have anything else to say to the guy.

“Anyways, I gotta go. ‘M gonna talk to that cyborg robot thing. Catcha later, fam.” 

_Yeah, I hope I won’t have to interact with him again._

I sighed and leaned against the wall, tired. Man, it has only been a few minutes and I’m already exhausted. Can’t believe there are so many people here. I wanted to get knocked out again and just wake up somewhere else. 

“Is something wrong?” A soft voice asked me. 

I looked over and saw a girl with long brown hair. Though I hadn’t spoken to her, I could already tell she was nice. She seemed very timid. 

“Yeah, I’m just tired, that's all.” 

“Oh. I get it, meeting so many new people at once can be tiring, huh?” She replied. “But, I still need to introduce myself anyway. I’m Kanna Tanaka, the Ultimate Mangaka.”

Wait, she’s the Ultimate Mangaka? Honestly, I sort of expected a shut in weirdo, but she seems really elegant? She’s really pretty too. I expected many things, but I can’t say that a cute girl was one of them. 

“You’re Kanna? Kanna Tanaka? Ultimate Mangaka?”

Kanna blushed a bit and smiled. “Yeah, that’s me. I don’t show my face to my readers, or anyone in general, so I guess this is surprising for you.” 

“Um… I-I sort of expected someone way different-er.”

_Different-er?? That’s not even a word? Of course I start speaking weirdly around a cute girl._

She was about to say something, but I barged right in after I remembered I had to introduce myself to her as well. “Y-Yeah! I’m Hikari Kujo. U-Ultimate Trivia King.” I didn’t realize my face was kind of red right at that moment. “I actually r-read a bit about you online. So, you write Shounen manga, right?” 

Kanna nodded. “Yeah. My family assumed I’d write slice-of-life stuff, or Shoujo. But, I’ve always had an interest in Shounen manga, for as long as I could remember. And I’ve been making up and writing stories for ages, ever since I was able to read and speak.”

I nodded along as she spoke. 

_She has a really nice voice, actually._

“And all that story writing and telling lead to me drawing, and then I started drawing comics, and then I became a very popular manga author across the country despite being a teenager.” 

“Oh, that’s really impressive.” 

“Ah, did I ramble? Sorry about that.” 

I rubbed the back of my head and chuckled. “No, no! It’s fine! I like hearing about how people came to be and all.” 

Kanna gave me a warm smile, which nearly melted my heart, and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it’s nice and all. Well, we’ve been talking for a bit, so I think I’ll go speak to the others.”

“Y-Yeah!”

And with that, she walked over to a nearby person. I sighed and rubbed my face, which was still red hot. 

_Damn it, Hikari. You barely know her and you already have a crush? Isn’t being trapped in a building bad enough?!_

I decided to approach a random person, who had their arms crossed. 

“My name is Foko Tukawa. I don’t think you need to know what my talent is.” They said. 

They were dressed in a schoolgirl uniform, but I couldn’t tell what gender they were. They didn’t have the most feminine appearance, I admit, but their voice was quite androygnous, one where you can’t exactly pinpoint a gender if you heard it. 

“Oh, why’s that? I’m Hikari Kujo, by the way. Ultimate Trivia King.” 

They lifted their forearm to adjust their glasses and looked at the floor. “Well, I don’t actually have a talent. I’m a normal high schooler.” They put their arms back into their folded position and squinted at me. “Though I’m unsure why that would even be important to you…” 

I just shrugged my shoulders and stared down at the floor in response. “I-I was just asking everyone.” 

“Figured.” 

“By the way, if you d-don’t mind me asking. What gender are you?” I asked, a bit nervous as I wasn’t sure what response to expect. 

They stood still and bluntly said, “Yes.”

_I don’t think they understood my question._

“No, I was asking wha-”

“Well, I’ll be on my way. I’ll see you later.” And with that, they walked off. 

I was left standing there a bit confused. However, I expected that there would be a couple of odd interactions here and there. I look to my left and see two short people talking to each other; so I decide to walk over. 

The slightly taller person had sparkles in her eyes as she spoke enthusiastically. “Can you make me one of those suits? I bet I'd look soooo cute in one!” She seemed very giddy. 

The shorter one let out a laugh. In their arms they held a head of a… dog? wolf? It was a colorful one. I quickly realized that this was the “Ultimate Fursuiter” I had read about a while ago.

However, I wasn’t able to recognize the girl that was talking to them.

“Ah- Yeah, sure! Just give me some sort of reference and I can work off of it!” They replied.

She pouts and crosses her arms. “I thought you were going to do all that stuff for me.” 

I walk over to them and interrupt the conversation. It wasn’t exactly on purpose, as I hadn’t put much thought into the whole situation. 

“H-Hey, how are you two?” 

They both shift their focus to me at the same time. 

“Awww, you just had to barge in and ruin the chat the two of us were having.” The pink haired girl said, letting out a loud and exaggerated sigh. She proceeded to mumble something to herself. 

“Um, it wasn’t really going anywhere.” They reply. “Oh, I’m Keiko Ogawa by the way, Ultimate Fursuiter!”

_Oh, yeah! I read about you online as well! Honestly, a lot shorter in person._

“Hmph. Well, I’m Koharu Hamazaki! Aren’t I a cutie?” She stuck her tongue out, pressed an index finger against her cheek and winked. “I’m the Ultimate E-Girl! And, um, I don’t think you need to know if that’s an actual talent or not.” Her high pitched voice dropped slightly after saying that.

Her style was a little too pink for my tastes, and it seems she was trying a bit too hard to appear cute. Unlike Kanna. Who’s naturally cute-

_WAIT! Don’t start thinking about her again!_

I took a deep breath. “Nice meeting both of you, I’m Hikari Kujo. Are you guys also tired of doing introductions?”

“Yeppers! That’s why I’m talking with Kaito over here!” She said with a big grin on her face.

“Keiko.”

“Shut up!”

I scratched my head lightly with my finger as Keiko and Koharu suddenly started to talk again, like I wasn’t even there. Well, less talking and more quarreling, with most of the quarreling coming from Koharu herself. 

_These two definitely get along, I can say that much._

Since they weren’t paying attention to me, I turned away and walked over to some other people. 

I analyze the room some more, and spot someone who looked very out of place. He wore very worn out and rather dirty clothes. A stained dark brown coat, with a light grey t-shirt that had small holes in it. He also had a long unkempt beard and messy long hair that reached his shoulders.

He didn’t look like a high schooler to me. But, despite that, he didn’t seem too threatening. Rather he seemed tired. I suppose it’s to be expected from a person who’s, well, homeless. 

“Hello, um,” He looked down at me and sniffled. “I-If you don’t mind me asking, are you a high school student?”

The man raised his eyebrows and put his hands in his pockets. “Flattered you’d even ask, but no, I’m not a high school student.” He replied. My eyes widened momentarily, even though I kind of expected that answer.

“Huh? S-So why are you here?” I ask. 

He laughs for a moment and shrugs his shoulders as he looks to the side. “I saw you guys gettin’ dragged into a school, so I came along.” 

“You didn’t call the police or anything?!” 

“No? I don’t trust those guys,” He sighs deeply. “And I don’t even have a phone. I’d rather stay in a school for a night or two than get some cops to close it down and force me back to the streets.”

_Man, this sounds depressing. I hope he’s doing alright...._

“Anyways, my name is Kiryu. Pleased speakin’ to you, kid.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Kiryu? No last name?”

Kiryu just shakes his head. “Nope. Just Kiryu.”

Though I wanted to ask about it, I just figured it was some tie-in to his homeless status, or perhaps a personal decision, and decided to keep the question to myself. 

“Right. Well, I’m Hikari Kujo. I’m the Ultimate Trivia Ki-”

“You think they got food here? I haven’t eaten in like two days.” He interrupted. 

_Geez, two days? If he can act this normal without eating for two whole days, then I wonder what his longest streak was of ‘not eating’_

“Umm, I think so? Maybe they have a canteen.” I replied. 

Kiryu gave me a thumbs up. “Awesome. I’m gonna try to get outta this room now.” He turned and left my sight, presumably to look for an exit, which I doubt he would find. Not now, at least.

_Maybe I should have asked what his actual age is._

My eyes searched for more people and I spotted the muscular dark skinned girl from earlier talking to a guy who was also shorter than me. I’d say the same height as Keiko from earlier.

“No joke, I’m gonna pummel the guy who dragged us into this mess into the fucking floor when I find him!” She exclaimed, punching her fist into her palm. 

“Mmm, the insanity of it all.” The guy she was talking to replied.

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?”   
  
“H-Hey guys! I’m-”

I walked over to them but was cut off by someone bumping into me. I let out a grunt and looked over at who it was; and noticed someone that I hadn’t seen before. 

“Ah, s-sorry!” The person said. It was the sickly green person from earlier. I just smiled reassuringly at him. 

“No worries. Sorry, I was just going to talk to these two-”

“Agggh, it’s so fuckin’ cramped in here! I feel like ‘m gonna get all claustrophobic around you guys.” The muscular girl yelled, gritting her rather sharp teeth. “Carni Butcher’s the name in case any of you wanna get to know me before I escape!” She yelled, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

The person next to her let out a sigh. “How long are you going to keep up with this?” He mumbled. Carni laughed. 

“Whaddya mean? This is just how I am!”

“Hope you get out of here sooner than later, then.” He added, rolling his eyes.

Carni gave him a toothy grin. “Aww, you’re too nice.” Though it seemed like she was being genuine, I could hear a hint of sarcasm in her tone of voice. Meanwhile, I was left standing there awkwardly.

 _  
_ “Umm… Yeah, I think we’re both the same level of confused right now,” The green person said to me in a slight whisper while he tapped his bottom lip with his finger. Though considering his meek mannerisms and stuffy voice, it’s not like it’s any quieter than how he usually speaks. “And, er, I’m Gaston Dubois. The Ultimate Gourmet.” 

_I wonder, does his talent tie in with his green skin? ‘Cause that’s something I haven’t seen before... heck, how would that even work?_

“Hikari Kujo; Ultimate Trivia King. I-I’m still a bit shy from all these introdu-”

Then, we heard a loud **SMASH** come from the room, we looked over to where it was and Carni punched a dent into the wall. She isn’t even that large, but wow, seems like she’s packing a lot of strength. 

Gaston and I both jumped slightly at the loud sound and upon seeing what was the cause of it. 

“That was highly unnecessary, you know.” A tall man said, staring at Carni with her fist buried into the large dent in the wall. I presumed this place would have been built well, but if she could dent it just by punching it, then God knows what the hell’s up with this school. 

_Or maybe it’s some sort of illusion? Making us believe that it’s built well, when it’s not. I think that’s a pretty smart way of going around it… although a little questionable._

I sighed, then looked at Gaston. “I think we should get a move on. Everyone’s acting up, so we should probably finish introductions so we can get out.”

Gaston nodded in response. “R-Right. Well, I’ll see you later.” He said, before walking away. 

Still irritated by everything, I decided to approach the guy who was talking to Carni earlier. He had his arms crossed and seemed to be staring at nothing. Probably in thought. 

“H-Hey, I wanna get this done quickly, so let’s keep this short.” He looked at me, but didn’t give a response. I blushed slightly. “U-Um, I’m Hikari Kujo, the Ultimate Trivia King. It’s nice to meet you.”

Wait, I know this guy! Well, sorta. This is the Ultimate Cosmetologist, and I read about him online! Damn, how did I forget so quickly?

_Well, then again, you are getting to know a bunch of people right now… at once. So you’re going to be a little forgetful._

“We haven’t spoken yet, hm? I’m Kenji Aoki. I’m known as the Ultimate Cosmetologist.” 

“Right! I read about you online. Honestly, cosmetology seems to be more common among women if anything, so I guess it’s somewhat of a surprise to see a guy have their talent associated with it.”

After I said that, he squinted at me. I couldn’t tell if he disliked that statement or he was just squinting for a different reason, but because his neutral expression always seemed like that of annoyance, I didn’t really want to question it in fear that he would be offended.

“Umm, are you okay?” I asked. He looked at me and just shook his head.

“Yes, Hikari. I’m just tired; and my head still hurts from being knocked out.” Kenji replied. 

_Oh, I forgot about that. That hit must have been hard..._

“A-Ah! Yeah!” I lowered my head. “Sorry, I’ll just... go now.” 

Kenji nodded and looked to his side. “It’s fine. I look forward to getting to know you.” 

For some reason, I felt that last statement wasn’t genuine. But I guess I can’t think about it _too_ much right now. With that farewell, I counted on my fingers how many people left I needed to talk to. 

  
  


I decided to walk over to the guy that had a tattoo on his arm that reached his neck and upper torso. Not something you see very often, especially just out in the open like that. He also had white hair and light blue eyes. Definitely stood out among the crowd, I presumed he’d leave a rather lasting impression on me. 

“Hello, I’m Hikari Kujo. I’m the Ultimate Trivia King.” I introduced myself, not stuttering too much this time. 

While adjusting one of his gloves, he responded with; “Shiva Blackbrite. I’m the Ultimate Vet.”

Woah, vet? I was expecting a few talents but honestly vet wasn’t the one that crossed my mind at all. But, hey, that’s the charm in meeting new people with ultimate talents; you never know what they could be. That or it’s painstakingly obvious. 

_I mean, that did happen with Kanna earlier._

“Oh, vet. That's pretty cool. What do you do exactly?” 

_Yeah, what does the Ultimate Vet do. Way to go, genius._

“Well, I serve healthcare needs for animals,” He crossed his arms. “I’m very skilled in the medical field and have a lot of knowledge when it comes to the subject matter, even outside of animals.” 

I nodded as he spoke. “So... actually, nevermind. That’s as good as it gets, I think.” 

Shiva raised his eyebrows, but didn’t question what I said… or rather what I was going to say. Or why I didn’t say it. What?

“Sorry we couldn’t keep this going on for longer, I’m trying to finish this as quickly as I can.” I said, sighing.

He looked at me and gave an affirming nod. “No worries, Hikari. I did have a long discussion with Keiko earlier anyways, I’m sure we’ll get to talk more eventually.” 

“Y-Yeah. You seem cool, so I’ll see you later.” I waved to him and gave an awkward grin as he walked away. I exhaled and counted once more.

_Two more people, this should be easy enough. Then maybe we can all get out of here and return to the re-opening of Hope’s Peak._

I look over and see some girl next to Junko, a girl I don’t think I had spoken to earlier. I walked over and blushed upon hearing something that was said;

“Woah! You’re like, really busty for a robot, y’know?” The other girl said, her face flushed.

“Quit saying that, you know she’s not a lesbian!” Noel yelled from the other side of the room.

“G-Guys, just calm down…” A guy with orange hair and glasses said, kind of standing slightly away from the robot fashionista and purple haired girl. 

_This is a great way to end things off, huh._

“No, I mean, seriously!” She looked at him and smirked. “Don’t you think Junko over here has a nice metal rack?” 

A blush spread across his face and he shook his head. “C-Come on, I can’t answer something like that!” All the while, Junko just seemed confused and stood there completely still. Though, I guess there’s not much you could do in a situation like this.

“Fair enough.” She sighed and just shrugged her shoulders. She looked away from him and focused her attention onto me. “I’m Akira Taketa! And that guy over there is Keith... something.” 

“Keith Sei... and I’m the Ultimate Babysitter.” Keith said, the last part was almost a mumble so I was surprised I understood it.

“Um... what’s with you and Junko?” I asked Akira, to which she blushed and giggled. 

“Weelll, I can’t resist ogling at chests every now and again, so I found myself staring at her and wow!” Akira grinned. “Whoever built her has pretty good taste, she’s really cute!”   
  
I looked at her then slowly moved my head to the side. “Right…”

“Nobody cares, dumbass. Stop being a pervert.” Iori shouted out from another side of the room.

Before another argument could ensue, I quickly walked away from the scene and ran to an empty corner in the surprisingly large room, my mind blanking out all the sound that surrounded me. 

I sighed and leaned against the wall, happy that I finally got all the introductions over and done with; even if the later ones were more short than some others. But that’s life for you.

_It was weird having to walk around and talk to these unfamiliar faces, but I managed and that’s what matters in the end._

**Ding dong, bing bong!**


	3. Prologue: The Brologue 2

We all looked to where that sound came from, and we faced a dusty and worn out looking monitor. It cut to static then faded to pitch black, followed by a voice that spoke;

“Hello? Hello, hello? Is this on? Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3!”

The audio, though loud, was pretty low quality, so if you were too close it would hurt your ears real bad. Some of us muttered while others stayed completely quiet while staring. 

_ Okay, this is really weird. Why is it just black? Something’s up.  _

“All right, can everyone hear me? That’s great. Now, the entrance ceremony will be starting soon, so, everyone, please make your way to the gymnasium as soon as possible!” 

And with that, the voice went silent and we were left standing in that room.

“Okay, guys, this might seem odd, but we gotta calm down.” Keith reassured us. This was a little hard to take seriously since he was noticeably sweating.

“Ohhh! We’re finally going to see my master! I’m sooo excited!” Junko said, before doing a twirl.

Akira blushed and grinned. “Master? Hehehe, I like the sound of that~” 

Iori rolled his eyes at her comment and scoffed. “It’s probably a scam and we’re just gonna get crushed by a hydraulic press or something. And can you go one second without being a weirdo?” 

“And are any of you guys gonna mention the fact that the robot over there mentioned a master?” Kiryu said.

“Shut the hell up, dirty bitch.” Iori snapped back. Kiryu just responded by rolling his eyes and scratching his large beard. 

Noel let out a scream and we looked back to see Carni smashing several dents into a large door until it finally opened up. 

“What’s your deal? Can you just stay put for God’s sake?” Koharu said, putting her hands on her hips and pouting. Carni looked back at her and gave her that signature massive toothy grin of hers. 

“No time to wait, we gotta get outta here as soon as possible!” She said, before taking off, her footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. 

I watched her leave, confused. I guess stuff like this is to be expected, though not to this degree.

_ I’m half convinced that almost everyone here is a total nutcase. But, I suppose that could make for interesting interactions between all of us. As if the ones we’ve already had weren’t weird enough already. _

“Everyone, just calm down. There’s no need for all this unnecessary yelling.” Shiva spoke. Most of us turned to face him. “This might be weird, but the best we can do is just stick to the task we were given and head to the gymnasium.” 

Sonny, who stood next to me, nodded and smiled in agreement. “A-yup. Just stick together and we’ll all be okay.” 

We all collectively agreed and started to leave the room one by one, our footsteps filling the room. While walking in the corridor, I noticed Kanna was right next to me, so I kept my head down.

“What do you think is going to happen to us?” Kanna asked, genuinely curious. She was fidgeting with her sleeve, which gave off the impression she was also nervous. I was just glad I wasn’t alone.

I swallowed and shrugged. “I-I don’t know. M-Maybe it’s some kind of weird event? Idontreallyknow” 

“Ah, yeah that could be it. But why would they need to knock us out then?”

“I don’t know... I don’t know, I don’t know.” 

We continued to talk in the dimly lit hallway in silence, only broken by the sounds of footsteps and other background noise you’d expect from people walking. After a few minutes, we turned to our left and saw a large door that was already opened, and we saw Carni standing in the large gymnasium, along with Foko, Junko, Shiva and Keith.

“WHAT’S UP, GAMERS? READY TO GET SQUAAAASHED?!” Noel yelled out, running into the gymnasium, his voice and loud footsteps filling the entire room. 

“Don’t be foolish. We’re not gonna get killed here,” Foko grumbled, looking down at their feet. “Stop trying to scare everyone.”

“You’re such a killjoy.” He replied, his hands behind his head. Foko rolled their eyes and adjusted their glasses.

We all walked into the massive room. Despite how large it was, it was noticeably dusty and worn out; the lights were also dimly lit and one was broken and hanging from the ceiling like it was on its last legs. I made sure to stay far away from that light. There also seemed to be some graffiti on the walls. Nothing explicit, though I was curious how it got there, why it got there and when it got there; though that stuff probably wasn’t important. 

There wasn’t much decoration; it was about what you’d expect from a high school gymnasium; but more dusty and eerie. But, in a way, I kind of liked it. It was much better and more spaced out than the room we were previously in. 

“Ohhh, I’m getting so impatient. Where the heck did master go?!” Junko groaned, tapping her foot against the floor. “I wanted to see him!”

Iori, with an agitated look, replied; “Sorry to break it to you, but your ‘master’ probably isn’t coming anytime soon.”

“What’s your problem?” Kenji replied. “Did someone piss in your cereal this morning?”

He scowled at him. “Why does it matter to you, twink? Fuck off.”

“Twink? You’re one to talk.” 

“I can be your new master, Junko~!” Akira said, cutting off Kenji before he could say anything else. I couldn’t tell if it was because she wanted to prevent an argument, or if it was because she’s just really into robots.

Ignoring the three of them, I looked ahead and saw a large stage with red torn curtains opened, along with a large mark in the center of the wall implying there was once an emblem there. I wondered why it was removed, assuming this is Hope’s Peak.

_ Come to think of it, if this really is Hope’s Peak, why is the place so dusty and quiet? And why is there graffiti in the gymnasium? I’d assume they’d take better care of this place. _

  
  


“Hey there, helloooo?! Can everyone hear me?” A voice said. It didn’t come from any of us and it had that same crunchy quality as that voice we heard from the intercom earlier.

We all froze in place.

“Well, now that everyone here, let’s get this show on the road!” The voice said, before there was silence. Then, we all looked at the stage and something popped out from seemingly nowhere. When I saw what it was I was... dumbfounded.

It was a short... man? On the right half of his body, he looked normal. He had pale white skin and a relaxed expression. His lack of genitals was weird and his anatomy was odd but I didn’t question it. But on the right side of his body, you could see his internal organs. Stomach, intestines, lungs, all of that. It was horrifying and I could feel my blood go cold at the sight of it.

“W-What…? WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUCK?!” Noel screamed, again, his face going pale.

“Eek! It’s horrible! G-Get it away from me, now!” Koharu screeched, hiding behind Shiva.

Shiva, who I presumed was going to be the more relaxed one among us, had a weird look on his face, like the rest of us, but his expression went to that of a neutral one quickly. “Don’t worry, those aren’t actual organs. If they were, they would have dried out; and his lungs aren’t expanding when he breathes.”

“T-Then what is it?” Gaston asked.

“...Good question. It’s not a human, that’s for sure.”

The man scowled and put his hands on his ‘hips’. “Geez, thanks for making fun of my appearance, bucko. How would you feel if I dissed that shitty tattoo of yours? Or that shit pink hair that girl has? Dare I mention that green midget over there?” 

“Hey! Don’t make fun of my hair, you ugly bastard!” Koharu snapped back while peeking from behind Shiva, her hands gripping his waist. 

The thing shook its head then sighed. “Whatever, whatever. I... am Monogoonga!” 

“Monowhat?” I murmured.

“Monogoonga! The one and only!” 

_ Mono obviously means black and white, as in ‘Monochrome’. But, what the hell is a “Goonga”? Who the hell named this guy, and what were they on? _

“I am the headmaster of this school. Cheesed to meet each and every one of you. Yes, yes!” He proceeded to give himself a handshake.

Out of nowhere, Junko jumped onto the stage and ran over to Monogoonga and picked him up, hugging him and giggling profusely. “Oh, master… master! You’re so cute! I love you soooo much!~” 

_ Wait, that’s her master? This is so bizarre. Is she like a worker here or something? And we still haven’t gotten an explanation as to why Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista, is a robot now. _

“Oh, so that’s her master, huh? What a letdown.” Kiryu mumbled whilst scratching his big messy beard.

“Awww, you’re too nice. I’m blushing! Now get offa me before everyone calls the cops on us.” 

“Yessir!” She let him go then did a backflip off of the stage and dented the wooden floor below her, then walked back to her place like nothing had happened.

I pretended like I didn’t see any of that unfold and just quietly listened to what our ‘headmaster’ had to say to us. 

“Moving on. Welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy! This would be the part where I do a whole speech, but I couldn’t be bothered to learn the script by heart, so let me get to the point,” Monogoonga twirled, did a little jig then did a sick pose. “You will all be living here for the rest of your lives!”

“W-What?” I stammered.

_ Did I hear that correctly? Does he mean we’re trapped in here forever? Like, seriously? Maybe my suspicions of this being a kidnapping is true... but why? _

“Yep, yep.” Monogoonga giggled. “Oh, and don’t even think about trying to escape this place. I made sure that this place is tightly locked up! So even my sweet honey Junko over here can’t even break down any of these walls!”

Carni grunted and punched her fist into her palm, smirking with a hint of determination in her voice. “That scrap of metal can’t, but I sure can! I’m gonna get us outta here pronto!” 

“Additionally, you  **must** stick to the school rules and regulations! Anyone who breaks these rules will be punished accordingly!” 

“Um, question,” Keiko raised their hand. “Are you a hundred precent sure that there’s no way to get out of here? I mean, won’t we get a little claustrophobic? And this place could use some cleaning-”

“Weeelll, I guess there’s one thing I forgot to men-”

“No way, I’m gonna call my dad, he’s associated with the government and he’s not gonna be happy when he finds out about this!” Koharu exclaimed. 

Monogoonga grumbled something then tried to continue. “Anyways, there is one more thing I need to-”

“Is there any food around here? I’m pretty hungry.” Kiryu joined in. The weird abomination was visibly irritated now.

“Yes, we have all your needs in this school. Food, water, cleaning supplies, whatever. ANYWAYS, like I was saying, there is-”

“Can you at least give me directions-”

“ **_SHADDUP!_ ** STOP TALKING OVER ME OR I’LL SET ALL OF YOU ON FIRE!”

That threat of arson was all we needed to shut ourselves up. Though I didn’t really expect this tiny creature to kill all of us, I guess anything is possible. I mean, this guy has his organs hanging out. What more can we expect at this point?

“Anywho, I guess I should mention one last thing. There is a way to leave this school, and it’s pretty straight forward.” Monogoonga continued. 

“How do we get out then?” Keith asked, his hand raised slightly.

“If one were to disrupt- Eh, screw that. The way to get outta here is to murder someone.”

My eyes widened and I audibly gasped, clutching my hands to my chest. I didn’t pay attention to anyone else’s reactions, but I assumed they were similar to mine in one way or another.

“Murder?? Are you crazy?!” Someone shouted from behind me.

“No, I’m Monogoonga. Anyways, yes! Murder! Whatever you gotta do, I don’t care. Poisoning? Stabbing? Choking? Arson? Accidental murder? ANYTHING! If you kill someone, you're free to go!”

“Nobody’s gonna kill anyone. Just open up the doors and let us out.” Foko said while pointing at Monogoonga. 

Monogoonga put his hands behind his back and smirked. “Ah, you guys don’t get it, do you? Always messing around... I said what I said. If you wanna get out, then kill someone... that’s it!”

Kiryu shrugged. “I dunno, I’m perfectly okay with staying here. I’ve been living on the streets since I was 16 years old.”

“Except not everyone wants to live in a school for the rest of their lives, you idiot,” Iori replied. “And I don’t know about you guys, but I’d prefer not to get killed by some person I just met.”

My hands still clenched to my chest, I could feel tears start to fill my eyes. The idea of being stuck here forever, and the possibility of seeing a murder take place was getting to me. I tried my hardest not to start crying, but it wasn’t working as I started to tremble.

“Oh, and don’t think that you can just run up to someone and kill ‘em. You gotta get away with murder too!”

_ I guess it’s somewhat comforting to hear that. There won’t be a total bloodbath in the gymnasium anytime soon.  _

None of us were talking anymore, as it seemed we all realized that this wasn’t a joke. We were most definitely going to die here. We all had that confused look and would glance at each other, wondering who would take this into consideration. It was all horrifying to think about. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I looked down at the floor as I started crying. 

_ I can’t die here, I can’t die here. I can’t! Why did this happen to me?! Who’s the sick person who’s orchestrating this?! _

Monogoonga cleared his throat as he tried to get all of our attention back. “Anyways, I have a select few tablets to give you guys. They contain all the school rules and many other things that might come in handy for you folks. I’ll hand ‘em out once you settle into your rooms n’ stuff.”

“What are they exactly?” Sonny asked him.

“Student handbooks! Or just a Samsung tablet, since iPads are outta my budget.” He pulled out a tablet from nowhere and waved it into the air. “It looks like this! Pretty simple to use, and make sure you don’t break it!”

I wasn’t even paying attention, I was just crying. My sight was blurred as tears kept pouring from my eyes. 

“They have your names ‘n personal information, like gender, height, weight, etcetera. And don’t use it to watch porn or anything like that, I can see your history!

_ Yeah, because that’s the first thing we’re going to be thinking of doing in a situation like this. _

“Aww, damn it!” Akira cried out, “Why would you say that?”

_ I stand corrected.  _

“Well, that’s about it! It’s almost time for class so get to it! It’s somewhere on the second floor, you don’t wanna miss it!”

And with that, Monogoonga spinned then disappeared again. As for the rest of us, we were shocked, stunned. Well, except for maybe Junko. I didn’t want to think about this any longer so I turned away and walked out the door, returning to the halls. I figured everyone behind was already discussing what had just happened, but I couldn’t bear to look at anyone. I wanted out.

_ I’m going to die here. I’m never going to see the outside world again. I’m gonna die here alone and forgotten. _ S _ tuck in a school with no way out except taking the life of another being. It fills me with despair. _

  
  


_ That’s how my school life began. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you couldn't tell, monogoonga is based off of monokuma's old design.


	4. Post-Prologue

All of us were noticeably put on edge and tensed up. None of us dared to speak to each other. Despite that, we were forced to go straight to class after the opening ceremony, and it went weirder than I expected. It seemed that Monogoonga had no idea what he was doing; and most of us weren’t paying attention to his lecture anyways.

My eyes hurt for the majority of the day from crying, and when we finished class and were allowed to do whatever we wanted (with limitations), I ended up locking myself in the bathroom and crying for about an hour.

  
  


Before evening came around, Monogoonga requested we all come to the cafeteria for a few announcements. We all arrived there at similar times and lo and behold, Monogoonga was standing high and mighty on one of the tables.

“Alright, bastards! It’s time for dinner! We got curry instant ramen, chicken instant ramen, hot and spicy beef, shrimp, all the good stuff!” He said as he threw some seasoning packets into the air. “Also, we got bottles of fresh water in case you need to wash down those noodles.”

Kiryu smiled and sighed happily. “Man, finally. I was starving.” 

“Umm, do you have anything other than ramen?” Koharu asked while raising her brow. Monogoonga shrugged and did a kicking motion with his foot.

“I don’t think living off of ramen for the rest of our lives is healthy,” Shiva added.

“College kids live off of it, I’m sure you can too,” Monogoonga replied. “And if you’re tired of that there’s always a vending machine in the corner.”

We looked at the area he pointed towards, and there was a vending machine with a couple of drinks and snacks.

_ That doesn’t look any healthier than what we’re really stuck with. _

“Do we use coins or anything like that?” Keiko asked.

“Just hit it a couple of times and snacks will come out.”

“I CALL DIBS ON ANYTHING STRAWBERRY FLAVORED!” Koharu said while running to beat the absolute shit out of the vending machine. 

“...Anyways. Now’s also the time to use your Goongapads! Read all the Rules and Regulations ™  so you don’t risk yourself getting sliced ‘n diced!”

With that information in mind, I walk over to the table to grab my new “Goongapad” and turn it on. It had no password. I clicked the “Regulations” and swiped through the rules.

**1: Students may not leave the school under any circumstance. Anyone found trying to leave will be punished.**

**2: Nighttime is from 10 PM to 7 PM. Though you are free to roam around during those times, some areas are restricted.**

**3: Rooms will be assigned to each individual student. Sleeping anywhere other than these rooms will result in the person being punished.**

**4: You are free to explore the building with minimal restrictions.**

**5: Violence against the headmaster or Junko Enoshima is strictly forbidden, as is trying to destroy any surveillance cameras.**

_ That’s kind of random. How come violence against anyone is okay except her? This school is twisted. _

**6: Anyone who murders a fellow student will be labelled the “Blackened” and are free to leave unless they are caught.**

**_Note: More rules may be added if necessary._ **

  
  


“Oh, and another thing! Some of you guys are talentless hacks so I’ll assign some talents to some of ya, got that?” Monogoonga said.

“Okay, like what? What’s my new talent gonna be?” Carni asked.

“You’re uhhh… the Ultimate Vegetarian!” 

Carni’s usual smirk turned into a frown upon hearing that. “What? Why-”

“And you can be the Ultimate Ugly Bastard!” He said while pointing to Foko. We all looked at them, their face going pale in shock.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Then beg,” He snarled, “And you over there can be the Ultimate Pervert! Though, being the Ultimate Robot fucker seems better suited…”

There were a few laughs from us while some others stayed completely silent. 

“Well, that’s about all you’ll hear from me. I’m gonna go take a shit, seeya!” 

After he disappeared, I noticed that Sonny had finished making some instant noodles for all of us. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed, but then realized I was distracted by Monogoonga’s shenanigans. 

Kiryu looked up from his Goongapad. “Oh, you made the ramen for us?” 

“Yeah, I wasn’t paying attention to most of the rambling. I figured we’d just eat before we’re assigned to our rooms.”

_ The rest of our time in the cafeteria was spent talking about our talents and eating instant ramen. Well, except for Carni who was forced to eat old kale. Junko didn’t eat for obvious reasons. _

In the middle of eating, Shiva slammed his hands down on the table and stood up. “WHERE’S MY CAT?!”

Sonny, who sat across from him, shot him a concerned look. “You... brought a cat?”

“OF COURSE I DID, WHERE’S KIKI?!”

He seemed on the verge of having a panicked meltdown, but then Monogoonga sprung up from nowhere holding a sphinx cat with a sweater on. I found it pretty cute, but was concerned about the fact that Shiva brought a literal animal.

“Here’s your pet, bud. I’m nice sometimes, so don’t worry ‘bout it!” Monogoonga said as he handed the cat over to Shiva. “Now clean up and go to your rooms, they’re located on your Goongapads.”

“Yeah, but Kiki is here now and that’s what matters.” Shiva replied. He seemed noticeably happier with the cat accompanied by his side. He got up with her moving up to his shoulder, where I assumed she’d sit by, and stood by the table. “Anyways, I think it’s better if we stay in small groups when going to our dorms.”

“Oh, yeah. Wouldn’t wanna get shanked or anything like that.” Kiryu said with his mouth full of noodles.

“You live on the streets, don’t you get shanked daily?” Iori, who sat next to him, asked.

“Eh. I stick to my own biz, so I’m usually safe. Worst case scenario I get my tent destroyed and pillows stolen.”

_ Wow, that’s actually really depressing. I’m glad he can be safe here... well, as safe as one can get in a killing game. _

Once we all cleaned up after ourselves, we all left in small groups to the second floor, where our dorm rooms resided. Our tablets had a layout of the rooms and where they were placed.

I made my way to where my room would be located and walked to the door, when suddenly Monogoonga jumped up from nowhere and landed right in front of me.

“Ah!” I yelped, jumping in surprise. “W-What do you want now?”

Monogoonga smiled and swayed his hips back and forth. “Oh, I figured I’d let all of you know that these dorms are completely soundproof! So you can have sex with someone and moan real loud and-”

“W-WHY ARE YOU USING THAT EXAMPLE?!” I stammered, face red hot.

“Eh, you guys are teens and all. Might get curious?” He giggled and I just looked away in embarrassment. “Anyways, these rooms are also pretty high quality. And by high quality, I mean there’s a bed, bathroom and desk. Oh, and soundproof walls as mentioned earlier.”

_ That’s probably going to tie into a murder, isn’t it? This could be weird. _

“Aaaanyways, I’ll put on name plates once you guys get settled in. Okie dokie? Awesome! Seeya around!” 

Finally, he took off and I was left alone. I finally reached out to open the door and was greeted to… a decent room. Honestly one of the better looking rooms in the school. 

Admittedly the colors were quite dull and lacked decoration unlike my room back at home, with it only having a bed, desk and a framed picture of Monogoonga wearing a monocle and fancy suit. Additionally, there was a large monitor in the corner of the room. 

I walked to the bathroom to look inside. There was a toilet, sink and shower along with a single bar of soap and a bottle of cheap shampoo.

I closed the door to the bathroom then plopped down onto my bed.

_ We really are trapped here forever, huh? I’m never gonna see the outside world again. Or at least for a long time? Who am I kidding, that’s not happening either. Maybe someone will start a family here. Wonder how that’ll turn out. _

I was actually really exhausted and had no energy to do anything. I wasn’t bothered to check the time, but I presumed it’d be about 6 PM, which wasn’t even close to what this school considers nighttime. But, nevertheless, my eyelids became heavier and heavier and before I knew it, I fell asleep. 

  
  


##  **Monogoonga Theater!**

_ “I suddenly remembered that I’m kinda required to do this sorta thing at the end of the day, ain’t that dandy?” There was a cardboard cutout of Monogoonga sitting on a wooden floor. Next to it was a bag full of red licorice. “I’m usually supposed to pick a random topic, but honestly? What is there to say? I guess have fun killing and getting killed!” _

_ “Aww, but how boring would it be if everyone ignored that idea? Honestly, I didn’t think that concept out in my head. I just wanted some kind of killing game for my enjoyment, without having to get involved!”  _

_ “I think I’m giving out too much information, so I’ll let you guys get back to your shenanigans! Byeonara and farewell.” _


	5. Babysitting for a Goose: Daily Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you might notice the writing style change slightly, and thats bc my friend helped write this. it may seem unprofessional but tbh idc lol.

**Ding dong, bing bong!**

“Gooood morning, everyone! It is now 7 AM, and it’s officially morning time…? Which also means it’s time to complain about my life again,” 

The audio from the intercom somehow made its way into my dream.

“Dontcha just hate how expensive good food is? Man, how the hell am I supposed to buy nice food on a tight budget like this? I can’t live off ramen for the rest of my life, no siree!” Mongoonga cleared his throat. “Buuuut, it could be worse, right? Remember to have a great day!” 

After that tangent, the audio cut out abruptly.

I woke up feeling defeated. Usually, I’d be pretty well rested, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to rest well knowing I could be killed at any moment. 

_ If this is the way I’m gonna have to spend my life. In most situations, I’d rather die, but perhaps I shouldn’t have those thoughts in a place like this. _

I did my usual morning business; along with changing out of my clothes since I accidentally wore them to sleep. Since it was morning, I figured that going down to the cafeteria would be the ideal way to start the day, but at the same time, I still had the overwhelming urge to cry.

That was until I heard a loud knocking at my door.

“Coming!” I called out while running over to the door and opening it slowly. 

_ Probably not the best idea to answer the door to someone. I mean for all I know, I could get stabbed right then and there. _

“Hikari?”

At the door stood Keith. I was quite surprised as I hadn’t expected him of all people to check up on me, but it was a welcome one regardless.

“Oh, Keith. W-What are you doing here?” I asked.

He shrugged and bit his finger nail. “Well, everyone was going to the cafeteria to eat breakfast, I thought I’d ask you to come with me?”

I blinked a few times and stared at him silently, just to gather my thoughts. “O-Oh! Yeah, sure. I didn’t think anyone would approach me.”

He grinned and placed his hands on his hips. “Neat! Let’s go, then! If you’re ready, that is.”

I locked my door behind me and walked to the cafeteria with Keith. Other than some chit-chat, nothing noteworthy was really said between the two of us. We made our way to the cafeteria and saw that the rest of the gang was there.

“Jesus christ, Koharu. How did you eat half of what was in there?” Kiryu said. 

The two of us looked over and saw that a good chunk of snacks and drinks were gone.

“There were so many strawberry flavors, I had to come down and snack on them, you know,” Koharu replied as she chowed down on some strawberry flavored Pocky.

“Probably not the best way to start off your morning. But, then again, our only other option is ramen,” Shiva looked to the closet that had a shit ton of ramen and bottled water. “I guess we’ll take what we can get.”

Carni slammed her fist on the table and grit her teeth. “Easy for you to say; I have to eat this fuckin’ plate of grass!” She picked up her plate and all that was on it was a piece of lettuce.

Keith quietly sat down at the table and I decided to sit down next to him. I noticed Kanna sitting a few seats away, but I didn’t really have the courage to walk over and talk to her. 

_ Damn it, Hikari. You’re not gonna become her friend if you never talk to her. _

“I-I don’t know if I can live off of this stuff... it’s really gross,” Gaston grumbled, sticking his tongue out and pushing the ramen away.

Junko, who was sitting across him, giggled. “Awww. You’re like, totes adorbz, little guy! Say, why is your skin green?” 

Blushing, Gaston lowered his head. “I-It’s a story for another day.”

“C’mon guys, I put a lotta effort into that ramen.” Sonny spoke. 

“You literally just added seasoning and then boiled water, it doesn’t take a genius to do something like that.” Kenji said.

“Seems someone doesn’t appreciate my great efforts…”

We continued to eat our “food” until we heard a noise that sounded like something out of those old tacky cartoons.

“Awwww look at my little pupils hanging out together and exchanging wholesome banter.” Monogoonga inexplicably made his appearance in the cafeteria.

“Headmaster Goonga!” Junko glomped him for the second time.

  
“Ow! Jeez stop tackling me like that, you’re made of pure titanium!”

“Lucky.” Akira pouted.

“Anyways, as I was saying, it’s always nice to see the characters get along before the murders start happening.” Goonga got up and dusted himself off

“There won’t be any murders because none of us are going to play your idiotic killing game.” Shiva said.

Junko stiffend up and started to speak in a uncharacteristically monotone and cold voice “Actually, I calculate a 99.9999% chance of a murder happening.”

“R-really?” Gaston sniffed.

“Ignore that, sweetie-pie.” Junko went back to her usual cheery self.

“wE wOn’t kiLL eAcH otHeR.” Goonga opened and closed his little hands in a mocking gesture. “Yeah, yeah; we’ve heard it a million times. Call me when one of you get Sayaka’d, Goonga out.” Goonga disappeared in the same inexplicable way he arrived.

“That little bastard! Who does he think he is doing all of this to us!” Carni clenched her fists.

“We should ignore him, he’s just trying to get in our heads.” Kanna spoke up.

“So what  _ should _ we do then, miss four-eyes?” Kenji crossed his arms.

“Ummm. Well I think we should split up and get a better understanding of where we are.”

“Good idea, Kanna!” Sonny said a little too quickly.

“I agree with Kanna too. We could find a way to exit this place if we search around.” I voiced my opinion. I usually don’t like putting myself out there, but when I’m around Kanna, I somehow feel more confident.

I felt Keith tug my shirt slightly. “E-Excuse me, but can we go together?” He asked. 

Admittedly, I kind of planned to tag along with Kanna and get a conversation going. But, I remembered that Keith was the one who convinced me to come down, it would be rude to just ditch him.

“Yeah, sure thing.” I replied. We both smiled.

“Eh, I’ll stay here and eat. This is the most food I’ve had in years.” Kiryu slurped up some curry flavored ramen, much to Iori and Kenji’s disgust. 

“We’re splitting up? Let’s go together, bestie!” Junko grabbed Gaston’s hand and dragged him out of the cafeteria, “help me” written all over his face. 

“All right, let’s get going then.” Kanna announced. With that, we left at our own pace; leaving behind the people who were still occupied or just didn’t want to go. 

Keith and I walked through the corridor. 

“Did you have a room to investigate in mind?” Keith asked. 

I shrugged. “I mean there’s the room I woke up in.”

His face lit up with curiosity. “Oh? Which room did you wake up in?” He asked.

“Umm... it was a room with cleaning supplies. It was really small and cramped, but I don’t recall anything noteworthy in there.” 

_ I guess the only weird thing I noticed was the lack of airflow, but I don’t think that’s important to bring up. _

“Ohh... I woke up in the music room upstairs!” Keith said. “Maybe we can go investigate there! It is a big room, after all.” 

“Music room…? Is there anyone here with a music talent? Otherwise I think a room like that is kind of useless.” 

Keith pondered then shrugged. “I don’t know. There were a lot of instruments there, but most of them looked like they weren’t used in ages.”

I nodded. The two of us continued walking until we reached the stairs. The two of us walked up and we reached the second floor. Next to the classroom we had a lecture in yesterday, were a few other rooms. 

I checked the labels for them.

_ Classroom 1, Classroom 2, Storage closet, Library... Music room! _

We both opened the door and were greeted to a surprisingly big room. There were tons of various instruments and music themed decoratives. There were also several chairs and desks and a whiteboard at the far back of the room. I sneezed at the dust that I suddenly got a whiff of, then proceeded to walk around.

“You’re right, this place really is big.” I said quietly, walking to a large grand piano. I trailed my finger along the keys and lifted it, my eyes widening as I saw the dust that coated my fingertip.

Keith nodded and looked around happily. “Yeah. I think it’s a fun coincidence, because I actually always wanted to be a musician.”

“Oh yeah?” 

“Mmmhm. Maybe a pianist, or a violinist. I play tons of instruments.” He went on.

“So, why is your title the ‘Ultimate Babysitter’?”

“I don’t know.” Keith mumbled. “It’s not like I’ve always been a music enthusiast, only recently did I find out that it was something I had interest in.”

“I see.”    
  


I wasn’t sure how to continue a conversation like that. I wiped my hands on my shirt and walked around to look around at the other instruments and furniture. But other than the window that was covered, there wasn’t anything too interesting. Or, that’s what I thought upon first glance. We continued to search, and I looked at the desk that stood in front of the whiteboard and checked the drawers, when I noticed a few things in one drawer.

In it were 4 markers. A black, red, green and pink one. Additionally, there was a small flashlight. Finally, there was a framed picture. I pulled it out of the drawer and looked at it.

The picture itself contained a photograph of a teenage boy. He had short black hair and green eyes. Next to him was a man and a woman, who I presumed were his parents, but I couldn’t tell because their faces were scribbled out with a pink marker.

I stared at the picture, analyzing it. I couldn’t recognize who it was for the life of me, but I couldn’t ignore it considering how it came out of nowhere. 

_ This could definitely mean something greater, I know it. _

“Hey, Keith. Uh... do you think I should bring this downstairs when we’re done investigating?” 

He came over from a large shelf of books and looked at what I had in hand.

“It’s… a photo?” Keith looked carefully at the frame. “But why is it here?”

“I don’t know. It’s not any of the students here. What do you think it is?” 

Keith took the frame from me and looked at it more. “I really have no idea; but it’ll definitely make for an interesting conversation when we bring it down!”

We both agreed that would be the key item we’d bring downstairs. We made our way back to the door, but before I left, I took one last look behind me. I looked at the instruments once more.

_ I wonder if anyone knew about this pre-investigation? _

And with that, I left the room.

Keith and I continued to investigate, checking a few more classrooms, but we didn’t find anything interesting, so we returned to the cafeteria after two hours of searching. 

“Um, Hikari?” 

As we walked, I noticed Keith had gotten closer to my side. “Yeah?”

“Do... do you think a murder will actually happen? Like... will one of us actually die?” 

_ Shit, I didn’t need to be reminded of that right now. _

“U-Uhmmm. I-I know it’s nerve-racking, but I really don’t think anyone’s actually gonna get killed.” I replied. “Like, come on, do you really think that Goonga guy is gonna punish all of us if we don’t murder someone? We just gotta obey the rules and stay calm.”

Keith sighed. “I know. But it’s hard to stay calm when we’re trapped here forever, you know?”

“I mean yeah, but come on, our families are going to be worried. Maybe the police will come looking for us?”

“...Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Keith smiled reassuringly. “Thank you, Hikari.”

Something about his smile made me really happy. It just felt calming. He had this very nice aura. 

_ That... sounds weird. _

We finally made a turn to the cafeteria and were greeted to a bit of a mess, both literally and figuratively. 

Carni was standing on one of the tables and had Monogoonga in her hand. She held him high up as if she were going to throw him like a football. 

Along with that, I saw that everything in the vending machine had been emptied. 

_ Jesus Christ, it has only been a day. What gives? _

“Who ate everything in the vending machine?!” Koharu yelled as she slammed her fist against it. 

“You literally ate like 80% of what was in it, why are you complaining?” Foko responded.

“THEY COULD HAVE AT LEAST LEFT SOME STRAWBERRY SNACKS LEFT FOR ME! Now I have to eat that shitty ramen.”

I looked away from that scene and focused on the more glaring issue; Carni holding Goonga in the air.

“Let. Me. GO! Violence against the headmaster is _NOT_ allowed!” He screamed, kicking his feet violently. “If you don’t let me down this instant there WILL be consequences!” 

“Headmaster? You’re not my headmaster; you’re a watermelon that needs to be thrown on the ground and busted open!” 

“I’M NOT A WATERMELON! Junko! Help me right now!” 

“Yes, master!” Junko made a salute gesture, then ran and jumped into the air, smacking Monogoonga right out of Carni’s hand and sending him flying into the wall that led to the kitchen. The impact caused the wall to break open and crumble.

“Aw, you stupid fuckin’ robot! That was free food for all of us!” 

Kiryu, after taking a swig from a water bottle, threw the plastic behind him and looked up at the muscular girl who stood on the table. “Not sure what’s up with you, but that was definitely not a piece of fruit.”

“You guys are total nutcases. We’ve only been here for a day and you cause more damage to the school?” Foko added. “This is a nightmare.”

Some of us turned our attention to where Monogoonga landed. We noticed his feet sticking out from under the rubble.

“Um... Is he okay?” Kanna asked quietly.

_ Oh shit, did Junko kill him? _

“Don’t think so, sucks to be him.” A voice said from behind us.

Surprise, surprise, there stood Monogoonga. He looked as if nothing had happened whatsoever.

“God fuckin’ damn it!” Carni grit her teeth. “Why is he back?”

“Maybe the one you were trying to throw was a clone? That, or there are several Goongas in this building. “ Shiva replied, his cat sitting casually on his shoulder.

“Hah, and here I thought we could get outta here or something.” Sonny laughed. Seemed he was trying to make light of our peculiar situation.

“Nope! I’m immortal. Goonga will never die! I mean, I thought you gathered that from the fact my organs are hanging out and about.” 

“Master!! I got so worried!” Junko leaped to hug Monogoonga but he stepped aside and she collided into the floor. 

“Yeah, no hugs right now, I don’t wanna ‘die’ again,” He put his hands to his mouth and giggled. “Anyways. I’m bored. Call me when something juicy happens!”

He twirled in place then disappeared from our sight. 

The room fell silent once he left, and it seemed like everything went back to normal.

“Alright, everyone,” Kanna spoke. Her soft voice was raised slightly so we could hear her better. “Since we’re all back from investigating, why don’t we all share what we found during our little, um, exploration?”

Sonny raised his hand. “I’ll go first! Kanna and I found out that all our dorm rooms have bathrooms!”

“Oooh, you and Kanna went into the dorms, huh?” Akira giggled. “That could only mean one thing-”

“They were investigating? Fucking duh?” Iori replied, glaring at the purple headed pervert. “And no shit, we figured that out when we went to bed last night, genius.”

“Actually, I fell asleep in the cafeteria last night. A nice meal really puts a man to sleep.” Kiryu replied.

“Aaaand, we also found out that only the girl bathrooms have locks! Neat, right?” Sonny added.

_ Huh, that’s a bit weird. For some reason though, it sounds... familiar. _

Kenji raised his hand. “Yeah, umm. Me, Iori and Akira found out there are locker rooms near the gymnasium.” 

“Mhm! There wasn’t anything  _ too  _ interesting in there.” Akira added.

“There are showers in there, though. I’m guessing that’s where we’re going to clean ourselves. Though, we do have showers in our bathro-”

“Oh! And the water doesn’t work in our dorm rooms, except in a select few!” Sonny interrupted.

“Eww, are you telling me we have to shower in locker rooms of all places? Yuck.” Koharu stuck out her tongue.

Sonny tapped his chin. “The only showers that were working were Noel’s, Carni’s and Gaston’s, but all of them except one had water that turned into a weird brown color. I can’t remember for the life of me.”

“So, the rest of us have to shower downstairs?” Kenji asked. Sonny replied with a nod.

_ Geez, showering with a bunch of guys sounds kinda weird. _

“I found a pool! It was a big room with a big pool... neat.” Noel said. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do with that, though.”

Kanna nodded as she took in all this information. “Okay... was that all you guys found?”

I felt Keith nudge me and I remembered that I didn’t tell anyone what we had found. 

“O-Oh! Uh. Keith and I investigated the music room upstairs,” I said meekly. “O-Other than musical instruments, there wasn’t much. But I did find this.”

I slid the picture frame onto the table. 

We all gathered around the picture to take turns looking at it, but everyone was just as dumbfounded and Keith and I were when we found the photo.

“Is that like a missing person or something?” 

“I don’t know. I just found it like this, but I have no idea who that person is.”

Keith mumbled, then his eyes lit up. “Oh, maybe he’s a student that was supposed to attend this school? And maybe he’s related to the headmaster in some way…”

The next few minutes was spent discussing the possibilities of what this image could mean. But we just ended up going in circles, not really reaching any sort of conclusion. But, it was a thought provoking discussion nevertheless. By the end of the day, we just ended up doing our own thing. Keith and I walked around the school. At one point, I watched him play Frühlingsstimmen on the piano.

  
  


We went back upstairs by 6 PM. As I reached my door, I felt Keith nudge me once more. “Hikari?”

I turned my head to face him. “Yeah?”

“Before I go, I just wanted to say thanks for investigating with me. I really appreciate it,” He pushed up his glasses. “I hope you don’t mind us sticking together as more days come. I’m still paranoid.”

I rubbed my arm and laughed nervously, my face flushed. “Of course, Keith. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt, so if it makes you feel better, then stick by me at all times…”

“Thank you! Hehe, what I’d do without you…” 

Keith and I exchanged farewells and we went to our respectful dorm rooms. I got undressed into my pajamas and did all my nighttime business, then hopped into bed. 

  
  


##  **Monogoonga Theater!**

_ “Y’know, I really hate when people make mindless comparisons. Oh, so and so looks like this, XYZ looks like that. Etcetera etcetera. But then you look at the comparison, and there’s no similarities? What’s up with that?!”  _

_ Next to the cut-out Goonga was now a stuffed goose, added onto the once lonely bag of red candy. _

_ “And don’t get me started on those people who have the audacity to compare me, Monsieur Goonga, to that fucking [REDACTED]. Like, seriously? Are you really gonna tell me that that [REDACTED] is better than moi? Puh-lease.” _


	6. Daily Life II

**Ding dong, bing bong!**

“Gooood morning, everyone! It is now 7 AM, and it’s officially morning time! Which also means it’s time to complain about my life again,” 

“Does anyone else feel out of touch with modern internet culture? Everyone’s ‘based’ this or ‘redpilled’ that these days. Can’t we go back to being swag and speaking in 1337?” Mongoonga cleared his throat. “Buuuut, it could be worse, right? Remember to have a great day!”

After hearing that I forced myself out of bed and went through a standard daily routine (minus a shower) when I heard a knock at my door.

“Um, W-Who is it?”

“It’s me, Kanna” hearing Kanna’s voice, I made sure I looked good and then opened the door.

“I just wanted to let you know that every morning we’ll gather in the cafeteria to hold a meeting!”

_Geez, way for my hopes to be raised only for it to be this... but what can I do._

“O-Oh. Yeah, sounds good.” I replied, forcing a smile.

“Great! I’ll see you there.” 

Kanna then waved goodbye and left for the dining hall. I let out a sigh and leaned against the doorframe. I found myself staring at the floor for a good while, until I finally locked my door and left to go downstairs. 

I noticed Keith wasn’t coming along like he said he would, and started to panic; but it was cleared up once I got to the stairs and saw he was standing there. He turned and waved, and I waved back as I walked up to him.

We had a small conversation going on, then the intercom went off.

“Hellloooo~! So, I know you guys are on your way to the cafeteria ‘n all, but once you guys finish your breakfast, please head to the gymnasium for a few special announcements!”

And with that, the crunchy audio came to a halt.

_Special announcements? Is this because a murder hasn’t occured? I guess it could be anything, though I guess the former seems likely. Wonder what he’s going to do, then._

“Could it be some kind of motive?” Keith asked suddenly. The way he phrased it sounded like he said something previously, but I didn’t really hear it. 

I shrugged. “Honestly, we can’t know for sure. Worst case scenario we get like… killed.”

A comfortable silence accompanied that statement as we walked to the cafeteria, the rest of the students gathered around a table. I looked to where the kitchen was and noticed the rubble was still there.

_Guess they’re not fixing that, huh?_

“So, after yesterday’s excursion did anyone find any possible ways to escape?” Shiva spoke up.

“M-Me and Junko checked all the windows on the first floor but they were all bolted shut with large metal plates covering them” Gaston said meekly 

“Ooh, that’s what we were doing? I’ll save you guys the hassle, all the windows on every floor have been closed off.” Junko stated.

Shiva’s expression lit up with curiosity. “Oh? And why is that the case?” He asked.

“To protect us from the monsters, of course!”

An awkward silence filled the room for a moment, until Kenji spoke;

“Monsters? Can you explain that?”

“Master said that there are giant monsters outside that’ll kill us if we go outside!” Junko ‘shivered’ and had a genuine look of worry. “So, he made me cover up all the windows and doors!”

_What the fuck? Seriously? Is Monogoonga seriously manipulating her into his own bidding?_

“Umm, okay. So, we’re just stuck in here, then?” Koharu said.

“Did you not gather that from the first day?” Keiko replied, to which Koharu just shot them a glare.

Twiddling with his fingers, Gaston sighed. “Guess that solves it.” 

Once again, Sonny made all of us (with the exception of Gaston and Carni) food and we sat and quietly ate it. There wasn’t much to talk about, especially now knowing that we’re shut in from the outside world because of ‘monsters’ that probably don’t even exist.

_Still, how have the police not been called yet?_

Something peculiar I noticed was that Carni was... kind of silent today. Not dead silent, but she wasn’t as hyperactive and loud as she usually was. She often complained about the ‘grass’ she was forced to eat, but this time she didn’t dare speak a word about it.

However, I did recall Noel saying; 

“Geez, can you stop mumbling about food? It’s real annoying, Carni.” 

And was followed by Iori replying with;

“Funny coming from a literal mumble rapper.”

Carni, surprisingly enough, didn’t snap back or yell. Instead, she stayed frowned and continued to stare at her plate; dumbfounded. 

_Perhaps she found out about something none of us know about? That’s something to consider._

We finished faster than usual and once we cleaned up, we all headed to the gymnasium at our own pace, Carni noticeably slower than her usual fast and energetic self. 

When we got there we saw Monogoonga doing jumping jacks on the stage. I looked to where the dent from a few days ago was and noticed that it was still there. 

“Heeeey, you guys made it! Awesome! Check the new equipment!” Mongoonga pointed to a pile of P.E equipment. Mostly balls.

“Buuuut, if that’s not good enough, we can just take suggestions for gym activities! We have to be active inside here, you know?”

_Huh? I wasn’t expecting this. I expected something more creepy, but it was kinda funny watching this guy talk about P.E while also wearing sweatbands._

“Hey, uhhh, I got a question,” Sonny had his hand raised high into the air. “Are we just going to be doing phys ed or is there something you’re hiding? If the former is true, can we do musical statues?”

Monogoonga snickered. “Mmmm, well... First of all, we’ll vote on what activity we’re doing in a bit. And secondly, yes, there is something I must share!” 

I swallowed nervously. 

_Fuck, this is definitely bad. A motive? Maybe? Or maybe it relates to why Carni’s so off today. I guess those two can co-exist, though._

“Mmmhm, yes! Now, I noticed nothing INTERESTING is happening, so I will give you guys a motive…”

We stared.

“A very… interesting motive…”

We stared, but more intensely. 

“Oh, I can feel my heart beating out of my chest it’s so insane!”

“Spit it out, dimwit.”

Our stares were still intense. 

“Geez, tough crowd. Anyways, whoever kills another student will gain access... to my Netflix account!”

_Huh?_

“WOOOOOOOOOO NEW MOTIVE YEAH!” Junko started jumping up and down excitedly.

Our silence was deafening to the point that even Shiva’s cat stopped purring. 

_Did we hear that correctly? Access to Monogoonga’s Netflix account? Who the hell would call that a motive?!_

“Is... is that it?” Koharu asked.

“What do you mean ‘is that it’, of course it is! It’s as simple as simple can get! Kill someone and you get to use my Netflix account!” Goonga stomped his foot on the ground, clearly exaggerating his anger. “What, do _you_ guys have a better motive?” 

We all looked at each other silently. It was a question that didn’t really need an answer. 

Sighing, Monogoonga fidgeted with his sweat bands then continued to speak. “That’s your motive. And now that that’s out of the way, what do you guys wanna do for Phys Ed?”

“Musical statues!” Sonny yelled.

“...Any other suggestions?”

“Do you guys still play dodgeball nowadays?” Kiryu asked one of us.

“Dodgeball! Perfect, the best activity for bruised faces and arguments, I love it!” Goonga clapped happily.

“That wasn’t a suggestion though-”

Monogoonga interrupted him by asking; “Junko, please get the balls; the dodgeball ones, specifically.” 

“Yes, master!” She replies fast then zooms into the gym’s storage room to retrieve what I guessed to be dodgeballs.

“Anyways, you all know the rules to dodgeball, I don’t need to explain. You guys can just get into teams and if it’s unbalanced I’ll mix it around a little bit.” Goonga sat down on the stage and retrieved a sandwich from seemingly nowhere and started to eat it. “So, go do that for now.”

I always remembered having a strong disliking towards dodgeball. I always got hit in the worst places and the balls hurt like hell. I never saw the appeal in it. But, this school is nothing but pain, suppose there’s nothing surprising with whatever Goonga wants us to do to inflict torture on ourselves.

_Does it get any worse than eating the same food forever, though?_

“I got the dodgeballs master~” Junko purred as she spun a ball on her index finger. Goonga grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

“Righteo! Now, get into your teams everyone!”

.

Dodgeball wasn’t fun, but I wasn’t surprised by that. I knew it’d go downhill once Junko was on the opposing team. She swung her arm and threw a ball straight into Noel’s face, knocking a tooth right out of his mouth from the impact.

They ended up banning her from the game, but our team still got destroyed anyways. The most notable thing was Noel getting a tooth blown out and Gaston getting a ball straight to the stomach, resulting in him puking his guts out onto the floor. And, of course, Carni spent the game in the time-out corner.

I was basically forced to partake in dodgeball for 3 dreadful hours. After that Physical Ed session, I was so tired that I didn’t even have the energy to eat lunch with anyone. Keith tried to get me to eat with him, but I quickly assured him I wasn’t hungry then went straight upstairs to my dorm and plopped down on my bed, falling asleep in only a few seconds.

Knock, knock, knock.

**Knock, knock, knock.**

**_Knock, knock, knock!_ **

  
  


Snorting, I woke up in a sweat while hearing rather loud knocks on my door. The knocks got louder and louder, tempting me to get up and check up on the person. In a way, they were sort of sporadic.

_ I should probably check up on that, huh? But I’m so sleepy. It’s obviously nighttime, and I don’t have the energy to get up...  _

Just as I made an attempt to move, I heard the knocking stop; and heard the distant noise of footsteps. 

_ Oh, they left…? I guess that’s weird. Maybe they realized it was the wrong dorm? Hell if I know. _

I kept thinking about our ‘motive’ and wondered if anyone would consider it. Maybe someone who’s desperate? But even then, is Netflix really worth taking a life for? 

_ We’ll never know... or so I hope. _

I shut my eyes once again and sighed deeply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you might notice that the chapters are going by fast, and this is a thing that, for the most part, stays in the earlier chapters, especially this one.


	7. A Body Has Been Discovered

##  Monogoonga Theater!

“Nothing irritates me like vote results!”

The bag of liquorice and the stuffed goose was now accompanied by a laptop with a default Windows background.

“I mean, think about it. No matter the outcome of votes, even if the better or superior side won, you’ll always see a certain group of people who voted for the worst option. How stupid is that?! I feel like people should take IQ tests before doing something like voting.”

“And that’s just twitter polls! Can you imagine these idiots voting in something serious like an election? Couldn’t be me; and it shouldn't be  you either! Voting is serious, so always take it seriously! Simple as that!”

**  
  
  
**

I opened my eyes slowly, and was greeted to the loud but inevitable alarm that went off every morning;

Ding dong, bing bong!

“Wake the fuck up, bitches! It is now 7 AM, and it’s officially morning time! Which also means it’s time to complain about my life again,” 

“Has anyone ever played a cooperative online game only to be paired up with the stupidest, knuckle biting, mouth breathing, lettuce eating, sheep humping, morons to ever walk this accursed planet?” Monogoonga stopped to breathe for a bit. “ I hate it. Buuuut, it could be worse, right? Remember to have a great day and stay in school, gamers!”

After listening to that I got up and did my morning routine then headed to the cafeteria. I don’t know why but for some reason today felt wrong, like there’s something not right. 

I kept thinking about it, but realizing I was still put on edge by everything going on thus far made me realize I’d be feeling this way for most the time I’m here. I put on my glasses then left for breakfast.

Opening my door, I was surprised to be greeted by the Ultimate EDM Producer; Sonny.

“Oh! Hey, man! I was just about to wake you up.” Sonny gave me a bright smile.

I tried to smile back. “A-Ah, hey... I was about to leave, actually.” 

“Yeah, Kanna and I noticed that you, Keith, Iori and Kenji were missing so I came to check up on you guys,” He explained. “Iori and Kenji were just their groggy selves and it seems you’re doing a-okay!”

“Yup, still alive.” I yawned and rubbed my eyes behind my glasses. “What about Keith, though?”

Sonny shrugged. “I think he went to the bathroom because his door was unlocked. How about the two of us head for breakfast?” He stepped back and bowed. “It’s on me!”

“Shouldn’t you be making breakfast, anyways?” I closed the door behind me and we walked together. “Say, why do you make us the food?”

“I was always told to make food for my family, but I kinda slacked off and made my sister prepare meals for us instead,” Sonny chuckled while he rubbed the back of his head. 

“Your parents just let that slide?”

“Well, my sister never argued. She didn’t mind doing it... or she at least didn’t care to argue back. I was always making music in my room ‘n stuff.”

I nodded. “Does she have a talent?”

“Yeah, she does. She makes horror movies, really good ones actually. I think she’s studying abroad as we speak,” Sonny continued. “But yeah. I didn’t wanna feel lazy, so I figured I’d prepare noodles for you guys everyday.” 

The rest of the walk to the cafeteria was accompanied by a comfortable silence, and we were greeted to everyone talking like everything was perfectly normal. It seemed fine, so I didn’t understand the weird feeling I had just a minute or so ago.

“So, your tooth is just gone now, huh?” 

“Yep! That robot really knocked the tooth right outta my mouth, no way I’m getting it back! But... it looks kinda dope.” 

It seemed that Noel was talking about his missing tooth; and quite loudly as well.

Always found it unfair that those little guys never grow back again... 

I look over to another table and see Iori with his head rested against the table sound asleep. Next to him sat Kenji, Akira and Koharu. They didn’t seem to care that the rude femboy was knocked out. 

Finally, I turned my head to Carni, and noticed she seemed different again, but not in a bad way. To confirm this, I walked over to speak to her. 

“Hey, Carni. Good morning.” I greeted. She had been picking at her greens and looked up from it, grinning.

“What’s up, buddy?” She replied, reaching her hand to give me a fist bump, which I awkwardly returned. 

“You seem normal today. What happened, yesterday?”

Carni shrugged and yawned. I couldn’t help but notice how... her mouth was stained red? 

Did she get into a fight or something? That doesn’t sound too uncharacteristic for someone like her... 

“Just had a weird dream, that’s all. But I’m back and ready to kick some ass,” She stood up from her chair and picked it up, then slamming it into the ground catching everyone’s attention; also waking up Iori.

“Can you go back to being silent? It was much more tolerable!” Koharu giggled, then stuck her tongue out while pressing her fingers against her cheeks. 

“Fuck off, pink shit. I do what I want when I wan-”

“AHHHHH! WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING?!” Noel screamed, leaping onto the unfortunate Keiko who stood next to him. 

A bunch of people took notice of the red fluid in Carni’s mouth. Upon realizing, her eyes widened and she covered her mouth.

Her mouth behind her palm, she said “Ah, fuck. Think I bit my tongue too hard again.” 

“You  what .” Kenji had a horrified look on his face.

“A-Again?” Gaston murmured.

“BLOOOOD! AAAAAHHH!!!!” Noel clung onto Keiko as he yelled bloody murder. This clearly annoyed the fursuiter, but they stayed silent about the matter regardless.

“Calm down, I’m pretty sure Shiva can solve something like this.” Foko said, solemn. They looked in Shiva's direction and he was adjusting his gloves as per usual, though seemed to be analyzing the situation from afar. 

“Excuse me, Carni. You wouldn’t mind if I took a closer look? Biting your tongue and having a good amount of blood in your mouth is worrying, no?” Shiva said.

She scoffed in response and wiped her mouth as she swallowed what I presumed to be the blood. 

Gross.

“Pffft, me? Nah, this happens all the time. With teeth like this, it’s basically a regular occurrence.” Carni beamed and revealed her sharp bright white teeth. Well, with a small bloodstain, but other than that they were quite clear.

“...If you say so.” Shiva stared carefully then returned to his prior task of drinking water with his cat on his shoulder.

After getting that over and done with, we all finished at our own pace and decided to explore the school some more. I had plans to hang out with Sonny for a bit, but I saw he and Kanna decided to go off once again.

Way to rub it in. But, I guess I was the one who kept shying away from the two of them.

Still in the cafeteria, I looked over to Iori’s table and saw he was (still) asleep. Akira was talking to Junko, though it seemed one sided, and Kenji and Koharu were silently watching Kiryu eat across them.

I was tempted to approach them, but I was still intimidated by Iori and the fact that all of them shared a similar aesthetic, so I backed away from the idea.

I found myself bored once again. I didn’t feel like going to the gymnasium with a few other students, and still had no clue where Keith went.

Keith… wait. Maybe I can go to the music room? Maybe I can investigate and find something to show Kanna! 

I found myself smiling and I gripped my shirt happily. 

Well, to the music room!

Before I left, I had cleaned up the table I was sitting at then went the same route I came to the cafeteria by. 

I walked and walked until finally I reached the music room. My hand reached for the door-knob but I felt an inexplicable sense of dread.  Come on Hikari be brave for once.  I shook the feeling off and opened the door anyways …

What I saw would just be the first of the many horrible imagery yet to come.

The music room had several instruments laying everywhere. There were clear signs of some kind of struggle and fight. But what most shocked me was a destroyed guitar and a pool of red. 

Holy shit.

I ran up to the scene and saw that clearly someone had used this as some kind of weapon. The guitar, which I identified as a cello, had several marks on the bottom of it and dark blood stains. Not too far away from it was a small pool of blood, which I could tell wasn’t fresh as it had darkened, somewhat similar to the blood on the instrument.

Along with that, I checked the piano and saw it had dents and some marks on it, as well as the floor and some places on the wall. What had happened here was a complete mystery but my blood was still cold and my face pale at the mere sight of it.

Suddenly, I heard an echoing sound from downstairs.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!” A voice shrieked. Upon hearing that, my eyes widened with fear. I looked away from the scene in front of me and sprinted downstairs from where the sound came from. It seemed to be coming from the end of the hall; where the storage closet was.

“W-What the hell is going on?!” I yelled. 

“I-It’s…! It’s horrible! OH MY GOD I’M GONNA-” Noel covered his mouth and ran away. Keiko stood there and turned their head to me like a deer in headlights, pointing to the storage closet silently. With every ounce of my being, I shut my eyes and scooted closer, looking at where the open door for the closet should be. I opened one eye slowly... 

Let’s take... a look... 

I felt my heart skip several beats and my jaw dropping at the sight. It was Keith Sei, the Ultimate Babysitter, lying dead on the floor. His eyes were lidded and his mouth open, a dried trail of blood that had previously leaked from his head and some from his mouth and his head was pressed against a pool of his own blood. There were also blood stains on his shirt and a large one on his left pant leg. He... died. The horrific sight was burned into my brain and I couldn’t look away. I was frozen with shock. Somebody... One of  us  killed Keith.

“Hah... AH! _GAAAAAAHHHH_!” 

Tears streamed down my face as I screamed. I screamed and I cried, loud as well. I couldn’t think, I was mortified. This was hell, and there was absolutely no escaping it. Before I knew it, I fell backwards and collided hard with the floor, and my vision blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew, got to the point real quick. dont get used to it.


	8. Deadly Life (and investigation)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i mention all of chapter 1 has been written already? yeah, 'm writing this in a doc, so once chapter 1 is over updates will be slower. mostly bc im a slow writer but also because i'm gonna make it go on a little longer ;)

“Oh, you guys are fantastic! I was getting bored as well! Bravo, bravo! Finally, an interesting occurrence has taken place! Hehehehe!” 

My eyes were shut and I could faintly hear Monogoonga’s raspy voice creep into my mind while I was unconscious. Though I had the urge to open my eyes, I didn’t want to. What I saw earlier was still etched into my brain and the last thing I wanted to do was face reality again. 

“You’re sick! Someone got fucking murdered and you’re celebrating it?!” Said by who I presumed to be Iori. 

“Yeah, for all we know, you could have killed him yourself!” Someone added.

Hesitantly, I slowly opened my eyes and cringed as they adjusted to the dim light of the gymnasium. I lied stiffly on the floor when I heard someone walking to me. It was Sonny.

“Hey, he woke up,” He said while turning his head to point at me. He reached his hand out to help me up and I held on, still feeling a bit light headed and I pulled myself up.

“It’s a dog-eat-dog world we live in, you know?” Monogoonga sat on the edge of the stage kicking his feet back and forth. “One of you killed ‘em, I dunno what to tell ya. I’m not allowed to directly kill a student.”

“For all we know that could be a lie.” Kiryu grumbled.

“Except for the fact I know exactly who the blackened is and have all the evidence on the tip of my little fingers!” He added. “I could reveal them right now, but I want to get the class trial over and done with. And it’ll be more fun!” 

“Class... trial?” Sonny asked. I was still holding onto him, as I hadn’t gathered all of my thoughts yet. Regardless, I tried to make sure I was listening to whatever was being discussed at that moment.

“Oh, I forgot to mention that, huh?” Monogoonga snickered mischievously. “Well, yeah, class trial. It’ll take place a few hours after a murder occurs! During said trial, you’ll present arguments and evidence about who you think the blackened is! Once everything is concluded, we all vote for who we think the killer is!”

A trial? He’s seriously expecting all of us, high schoolers, to solve a murder? I knew even with the smartest people here that’d be beyond difficult, but I wasn’t bothered to bring that up. 

Monogoonga continued, “If you vote for the correct person, they and they alone will be punished, and the rest of you will return to living normally. However, if you choose incorrectly, I will punish everyone _besides_ the murderer, and they will get to leave this school safe and sound!”

I sighed deeply and finally let go off Sonny, trying desperately to pull myself together, even if the image of Keith’s body kept popping up into my mind, making me want to puke up my food from earlier.

“What is this ‘punishment’ you keep referring to?” Foko asked, their arms crossed as per usual. “I’d prefer if you weren’t so vague over this, you know.”

“Execution, duh,” Monogoonga cackled. “Maybe if you used that brain in your bean head correctly you’d be able to piece it all together.”

“H-Huh?”

“Wait,” Kiryu said. “So, if we vote incorrectly, all of us get executed? Like... all of us? Except the guilty one?”

“Correctomundo, Mr. Fleas! You will all get crushed! Or drowned. Whatever I decide to come up with will be your fate! Hehehe.”

“That’s not even fair!” Iori walked closer to the abomination on the stage. “We’re not investigators or anything, how the hell are we supposed to pin down a damn murderer?” 

Goonga shrugged and picked at his teeth. “Whatever happens happens, you know? Nuthin’ I can do. Sorry.” 

This comment made Iori clench his fists in anger and glare at Monogoonga with a look of utter hatred. “Listen here, you bastard. I’m not gonna get killed because some idiots made the wrong decision. They can go, but I am _not_ letting you risk my fucking life.”

“Iori, what’s the matter? Getting executed sounds amazing!” Koharu grinned and put her hands behind her head. “Mmm, yeah it’s scary, but isn’t that such a cool way to go? I think a lot of people here deserve it, anyways! So ungrateful…” She moved her hands to her face and pressed against her cheeks. 

Iori looked back at her. “To you, maybe. But I still have shit to do.”

“Soooo ungrateful!” She was now faking a sad tone to her voice. “You guys should be ashamed! Maybe Keith dying taught you all a lesson! And the fact someone actually took the time to take the life of someone _really_ shows that we’re the good guys, huh.” 

“With all due respect, Koharu, shut the fuck up.” Carni frowned.

“Wooow, so that’s the treatment I get for brutal honesty, mmhmm?” The pink headed girl snickered. “Okay, well, I gotta go to the bathroom so I’ll see you guys around~” She turned and left, humming some song while she walked out.

_That was a bit weird. Like, all of that._

Monogoonga blinked his functional eye then scoffed. “....Anyways. Don’t be such a killjoy, Amami. I can’t help it if a bunch of chimpanzees here decide to vote for the wrong person! Y’gotta use your brains!” Monogoonga started to walk away “Now get out there and start investigating! Unless you wanna end up as worm food.”

He was right. As long as we're under his thumb I'll have to play along with his little game.

**|Investigation start!|**

“I’m gonna go perform an autopsy on the body. Let’s go Kiki.” _Wouldn’t that contaminate the crime scene?_ Shiva left the gym along with most of the other students. That left Me, Noel, Junko, Kiryu, and Gaston alone in a room. 

“A-Aren’t you guys gonna help investigate?” I looked at them nervously. “Uh... I don’t really plan to. All this investigation stuff probably isn’t for me, I mean my stomach is just getting queasy thinking about it.” Gaston held his stomach. 

“Nope! No can do mister Hikitty.” 

_Hikitty? Oh great now she’s nicknaming us._

_“_ Why can’t you investigate Junko?” Junko scratched her presumably artificial hair. “Well Master Goonga said it would be unfair if I helped out with all my robotic abilities, so I’m just gonna hang out with Gaston while we wait for the trial to start♡'' Gaston let out a sigh as Junko started trying to paint his nails purple.

“ _Lo siento, Lo siento, Lo siento, Lo siento, Lo siento, Lo siento, Lo siento, Lo siento-_ ” Noel was currently hyperventilating, I walked up to him and tried to comfort him. I know I don’t really know him all that well, but it was sad to see him in such a sorry state. 

“Y-You okay man?” Noel took a hit of his swag flavored Juul and calmed down a bit. “No, but thanks for asking dude. I know I rap about killing people all the time but I’m definitely not prepared for the real thing.”

“S-So what happened before you found _his_ body?” Even mentioning it made me crack a bit.

“Well I was lookin’ for that Keith guy like everyone else that morning, when I saw that freaky furry just standing there looking at the storage closet. So I decided to take a look and SORPRESA there was the body. If you ask me I think that weirdo animal lover musta done it” Noel finished recounting his story. “I’ll uh keep this in mind”

_|Noel’s account has been added to truth bullets|_

Finally, I turned to Kiryu. “So uh how about you?” 

“Well it’s like that George guy said-” 

“His name is Gaston!” Junko shouted. 

“Sorry I’m not very good with names. As I was saying, I'm not really a Sherlock or anything. In fact, I would probably mess up things more than I would help. Trust me.” Kiryu smiled sheepishly. I felt bad for the guy. 

“Well even if you don’t go out and investigate you can still help us. Uh, did you see anything of interest today or yesterday?” Kiryu scratched his beard and then leaned in close to me. 

“Last night while I was going to get a midnight snack, I saw Junko roaming the halls. It looked like she was heading towards the music room.” The Music room? The one covered in blood? What Business could Junko have had there?

_|Kiryu’s account has been added to truth bullets|_

With everyone in the gymnasium accounted for I decided to head to the scene of the crime. 

Upon arriving I saw Shiva, Sonny, Iori, Kanna, Keiko, and Carni

Suddenly, Moogoonga popped out of nowhere. “Oh shoot, I almost forgot to give you guys your investigation tool!” Monogoonga started handing out what appeared to be a… Nintendo DS? “I just gave you guys your very own Monoscreen, no need to thank me.” Goonga grinned. 

“Like we would ever thank you in the first place, you bastard.” Iori spat. 

“Sounds like someone needs to get his ass pounded. Well too bad! This fic is rated PG-13 and we here at Team Dangangoonga hold and promote traditional Christian values such as making wacky teens murder each other! Anyways, check the Pictochat for info on the crime or whatever.” Done with his crazy ramblings, Monogoonga disappeared.

“Should we trust him?” Keiko asked. 

“Comparing it to my evaluation it seems completely accurate.” Shiva noted. I decided to check for myself.

**Monoscreen 1:**

**Victim: Keith Sei**

**Basic Info:**

**Height: 5'5"**

**Weight: 130 lbs**

**Chest: 75 cm**

**Blood Type: AB-**

**Birthday: April 1st**

**The victim’s body was discovered in a storage closet on the first floor. The estimated time of death is 12:58 AM. The victim’s cause of death was bleeding to death as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. Another injury was found on his leg. Other than that, no other injuries or chemicals such as poisons were detected.**

I was still shocked. Utterly bewildered. Keith, the only one who was close to me, suddenly had his life taken by one of us. The thought made me sick. And with that time taken into account, what if the person knocking on the door was… Keith. 

What if he was struggling? He came to my door for help?? I felt nauseous just thinking about that. If it was true, that meant I could’ve helped him. But I was too focused on myself, and now he’s gone. 

“Hikari, are you okay?” I heard Sonny speak as he put his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t notice that I was crying, again. 

I wiped my tears and cleared my throat. “Y-Yeah. It’s nothing.”

“It’s okay if you get upset, Hikari. Your friend was killed, it’s a natural reaction.” 

Those words nearly made me cry again, but I bit my lip hard and shook my head. “It’s fine, Sonny. Let’s just g-get this over with.”

I sighed and looked over the report once more. 

_That all it seems to be. Nothing else. But, how did nobody hear him? Wouldn’t he be crying out for help...?_

| _Monoscreen #1 added to truth bullets_ |

I looked down at Keith’s body once more.

... 

_Maybe I’ll investigate this room a little bit first._

First thing I noticed was the lack of air circulation. Because of this, the room had a gross damp feel to it and smelled horrible because of the blood and, well, Keith’s corpse.

“Can someone open the fucking door before I vomit everywhere?” Iori groaned. “Smells horrible in here.”

“Y-You’re the closest to it, you know.” Keiko muttered. 

“So are you? Jesus Christ, you guys are lazy.” Iori kicked the door open and stomped out, the sound his platformers on the floor echoing throughout the hallway. 

Ignoring him, I took into account the lack of airflow, and wondered if it somehow tied into Keith’s death... does it also relate to him being brought down here from the bloodied music room? 

_I’m probably going to have to investigate that room as well..._

“Hey, Shiva. I need to ask you something.” I said.

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Yeah, um, is heavy breathing and hyperventilation a symptom of bleeding to death?” I asked.

Shiva crossed his arms and nodded. “As far as I’m concerned, yes. The person bleeding will experience many symptoms, and this includes rapid breathing,” He explained. “And there’s also lightheadedness, dizziness, pale skin, and also loss of consciousness and thirst.”

“Thirst?”

“Yeah, thirst,” Shiva continued to speak. “When losing blood, your body detects liquid is being lost and you begin to feel dehydrated.”

I nodded. “I see... well, thanks for the explanation.”

Shiva smiled at me and turned to continue investigating each nook and cranny of the small room. 

I started to wonder if the lack of venting in the room had a part in Keith’s death. Perhaps the lack of air caused Keith to die faster? But why was he dragged here in the first place though, assuming he was killed in the music room... 

| _”No airflow in storage” has been added to truth bullets|_

_|”Symptoms of blood loss” has been added to truth bullets|_

I investigated more of the room but there wasn’t anything else noteworthy other than a bucket and a mop. I looked over and noticed the water inside was a dark color; a reddish-brown color, if you will. Looking at it more, it hit me that the stained water could be because it was mixed with blood.

_Maybe the killer has used this to mop up the blood?_

That further solidified the theory that Keith was dragged down. But I was still curious as to why the killer did this... 

| _”Mop and bucket” and “Bloody water” has been added to truth bullets|_

There was nothing left to investigate, so I checked off my mental list and walked to the supply door and opened it. Carni was still standing outside.

“Whoever did this is gonna get their fuckin’ jaw swung, swear on my mom!” She punched her fist into her palm and exhaled sharply. I bit my thumb and sighed deeply.

“Y-Yeah. I know we’ll get to the bottom of this, so don’t worry.”

I then left to the locker rooms to check if it had been used by the killer; perhaps to clean blood off of themselves. In the locker room I saw Kiryu, Akira and Foko.

“Sick braided beard, big guy! Who did it for you?” Akira complimented Kiryu. 

He grumbled. “Junko did it. I didn’t wanna be rude so I just let her.” 

Akira gasped. “You think she’d braid my hair? Hehe~”

I ignored the two and walked to where the showers would be. I paced around the room and studied the area and took note that it looked unused. As in, nobody had used it yet. Or at all, even. 

It smelled relatively fresh and looked clean, with the exception of some grout in the tiles. But it didn't look like anyone had ever used the showers. To make sure my assumption was correct, I returned to where the three other students were. 

I decided to talk to Foko first since they were the only one who wasn’t occupied, with Kiryu still talking to Akira. The pervert seemed quite interested in the ex-homeless man’s braided beard. 

“Hey, Foko. I need to talk to you about something.”

They looked at me and pushed up their glasses. “Speak.”

I blushed and cleared my throat. “Um, do you by any chance have any alibi for last night?” I asked.

“Well, last night I came down to make myself some tea. As I was walking down, I noticed Keith was leaving the kitchen and was holding something with him,” They explained.

“Oh. What was he holding?”

“A knife.”

I froze and stared, silent. 

Foko continued, “But, I noticed and asked him about it. The conversation went as so;”

**  
  
**

_“Why are you bringing a knife with you, Keith?”_

_The orange haired boy looked at Foko, blushing._

_“U-Um. I know this looks bad, but I’ve been very paranoid lately and wanted something to defend myself with.” Keith sighed. “I was going to ask Hikari to come with me to be safe, but he went to bed.”_

_Foko nodded and stroked their chin. “I see. How do I know you’re telling the truth?”_

_“I-I wouldn’t kill someone! I swear! Nobody here deserves to have their life taken, I just need to d-defend myself!”_

_“Okay, I get it,” Foko walked past the babysitter and made their way to the kitchen. “I’m just going to trust your word and continue with my evening.”_

**  
  
**

“He went upstairs afterwards and once I finished my tea, I returned to my dorm. Who knew that’d be the last I hear of him.” 

The last sentence sent a chill down my spine, but I shook it off as I needed to keep my mind on the investigation. I rubbed my temples and sighed. 

“Okay. Thanks, Foko. By the way, did you by any chance see anyone come to the locker rooms?” 

They hummed, then shook their head. “Nope. That’s all I had.” Foko then left the locker rooms.

| _Foko’s account has been added to truth bullets.|_

_|”Clean Shower Room” has been added to truth bullets.|_

**  
_Guess that’s all for the locker rooms._ _I think I should go investigate upstairs now._**

I left the locker room and quickly walked to the stairs and ran towards the music room. I took a deep breath as I entered the room and nearly gagged at the sudden smell of blood again. 

****

_ Kinda jarring smelling blood again after leaving a shower room of all places. _

****

I scanned the room with my eyes and saw Koharu sitting on the desk. The one that had the picture of the unknown person. Of course, it wasn’t there anymore, so she couldn’t look at it. But I felt curious as to why she was there, since she didn’t seem to be investigating. I ended up approaching her anyways. 

****

“Hey, Koha-”

****

“I know who the culprit is, hehe~” Koharu giggled and tapped her fingers against the wooden desk. “Upon checking this place, another room and taking into consideration what happened earlier, I pieced it all together!”

****

My eyes lit up with surprise. “R-Really? Wow, so you can tell us now and not risk getting killed, right?”

****

“Nope!” Koharu covered her mouth and laughed. “That would be  _ waaaay  _ too easy! It removes all the fun from watching you guys pull your hair out from frustration trying to solve this! But, I’ll tell you this much, the blackened wasn’t the sneakiest with their murder.” 

****

“What?!” I flushed red from her tangent. “Koharu, this isn’t a l-laughing matter! Please, just tell us who did it!”

****

Koharu tapped her chin and hummed. “Mmmm... hmmm. Investigate this room and some others and I’ll consider,” She jumped off of the desk and walked past me. “Also, might wanna consider checking the victim’s room for a surprise~” 

****

Just as I was about to ask for elaboration, she left the music room just as fast as I had gotten there. 

****

_ I can’t tell if she was helpful or not. Maybe helpful in a weird way? _

****

Moving forward, the first thing I took a closer look at was the cello. I used as much strength as I could to check every inch of it, but found out fast that it was the bottom of the instrument that was stained with blood. The blood splatter was large and nearly covered the entire bottom of the instrument, proving that whoever used this as a weapon hit Keith  _ very  _ hard. 

****

_ How did he not die instantly? It’s... almost impressive.  _

****

There was also a large blood stain on the floor, though not as big as the one downstairs, further hinting that the killer was quick to think of bringing Keith downstairs. I thought that perhaps they were surprised that he hadn’t died instantly. But then why wouldn’t they have just left Keith lying down? There must be some sort of explanation... 

****

| _ ”Bloody cello” has been added to truth bullets| _

****

I looked around and found a half broken violin not too far away from where the presumed murder weapon was. Upon closer inspection I saw that there was a dent in it and a small splatter of blood. But other than the splat of blood and that it was broken, there wasn’t anything too interesting about it.

****

_ Was this used as a weapon as well? By the killer or the culprit…? _

****

| _ ”Broken violin” has been added to truth bullets| _

****

Reaching an end point to my music room investigation, I inspected the evidence of struggle that was present in the room. The scratch marks and dents that were on the floor and walls were very hard to ignore, and made me think there was some sort of fight between Keith and his killer. 

****

The dents weren’t too obvious and consistent. I assumed the fight didn’t last too long until they resorted to using instruments as weapons; with the cello being the straw that broke the camel’s back.

****

| _ ”Evidence of struggle/fight” has been added to truth bullets| _

****

Once I finished investigating, I left the music room and saw Koharu leaning against Keith’s door that led to his dorm room. 

****

“I thought you’d never come!” Koharu moved out of the way and pointed to the door. “If you wanna see something real neat, check out babysitter boy’s room over here.”

****

“Um... okay? If it’s important then sure.”

****

She smiled and leaned against the doorframe while I entered the room. I noticed there wasn’t anything that noteworthy, but that was up until I saw something odd with the bed. The duvet had been moved like someone got out of the bed, and a knife was stabbed right into the mattress where a person would, presumably, be lying down.

****

“W-Wait, this is weird.” I suddenly muttered.

****

Koharu peeked her head in from outside. “What’s the problem, cute stuff? It’s in plain sight.” 

****

“Yeah, I know that! B-But, this doesn’t make sense considering Foko’s account from earlier…” 

****

“What did they say?”

****

I gulped. “U-Um. They said they saw Keith taking a knife upstairs, and when asked about it, he said he wanted to use it for self defense.” 

****

Koharu stroked her chin and giggled. “Mmm, it’s fun seeing you piece stuff together like this. It’ll be soo fun to watch it all unfold during the class trial~!” 

****

“Y-You’re not gonna comment on that?”

****

“What can I say? Anyway, I’m tired,” She moved to where I could see her entire body in the doorway then stretched, yawning. “I’m gonna go downstairs and wait for the trial to start. Sayonara.”

****

I heard her footsteps echo lightly in the hallway once she had left. 

****

| _ ”Knife in bed” has been added to truth bullets| _

****

There was nothing left to investigate and I decided to return downstairs. I got to the bottom of the stairs and Sonny rushed to where I was standing. 

****

“Hikari! You need to come, quick!” Sonny yanking at my sleeve, basically pulling me forward. “We found something  _ really  _ weird!”

****

“S-Sonny, stop pulling me- AH!” My objections were ignored and Sonny started dragging me on the floor and back to where the supply closet was; where Keith’s body lay dead.

****

We arrived there in no time and Sonny finally let go of me, then pointed to Shiva who had his hands on Keith’s right leg. 

****

“What’s going on now?” I asked, to which Shiva looked up from Keith’s body.

****

“I noticed this earlier while examining the body, but hadn’t shared it with anyone.”

****

My heart skipped a beat as he rolled up the pant leg and I closed my eyes, not braced for whatever was waiting for me.

****

Then, I heard Sonny say; “You can look... with caution.” 

****

I was quite worried, but knowing that I was literally dragged here to see whatever this was, I knew it had to be important. I opened my eyes and gasped, turning pale white.

****

A large chunk of his thigh has been removed. It wasn't evenly cut and the open wound has inconsistent edges. I saw all the fat and muscle inside and the sight made me quiver. I couldn’t look any longer and covered my mouth, gagging and coughing uncontrollably.

****

“It’s terrible, isn’t it? Definitely contributed to Keith’s slow and painful death.” Shiva said.

****

I tried to respond but all that left my mouth was a hot stream of vomit landing all over the floor. While Sonny and Shiva tried to help me and make sure I was okay, I just found myself leaning over, convulsing and throwing up my guts, or that’s what it felt like. Because of how hard I vomited, I fell back and blacked out from not only the imagery, but just the violent retching that had just taken place.

****

| _ ”Chunk of flesh missing from Keith’s leg” has been added to truth bullets| _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, the similarities are up the wazoo, amirite people?


End file.
